


When You Lie

by LaurensGleeStories



Series: I'd Lie [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Car Accidents, F/F, Friendship, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love Triangles, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Secret Relationship, Temporarily Unrequited Love, William McKinley High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-02-08 14:37:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 71,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12866607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurensGleeStories/pseuds/LaurensGleeStories
Summary: Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray lied to a lot of people. Before they got the chance, to tell the truth, they got into a serious car accident. Will they ever get to come clean? Sequel to my story, 'I'd Lie'. Contains Faberry, with various Glee club friendships featured.





	1. Wires

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I feel obligated to tell you, as I am not a doctor (yet), I have taken many artistic licences as to how a hospital works, and injuries that can result from a car crash. I have tried to be as realistic as possible, and have done vast amounts of research in order to do so. Hope you enjoy! If you have any other suggestions for the title feel free to tell me as I’m kind of stuck. Please review if you want me to continue this!

**Quinn's POV**

I could hear a steady, faint beeping sound in the background. 'What the hell happened?' I thought to myself, confused. Then I remembered that I was in the car with Rachel, we were singing along to music and…

_I saw a car hurtling towards the driver's side of our car, completely out of the blue,_

" _WATCH OUT!" I screamed to Rachel,_

_It was too late; it would have been impossible for Rachel to avoid the car. The car crashed into us, and our car skidded horizontally before flipping over and turning around several times. It rolled down the hill and eventually came to a stop at the bottom, the wrong way up. I closed my eyes. The pain was truly incomprehensible._

_A minute or so later I opened my eyes again, I assumed I had passed out for a minute. I could hear shouting but it all sounded very distant, almost like an out of body experience. I tried moving my head to look around and winced at the pain shooting through my neck._

" _Rachel?" I groaned quietly, trying to twist to see her,_

_I really wished I hadn't. It was horrifying. Rachel was still strapped into her seat, but she wasn't sat in it properly. Her eyes were closed and I couldn't tell if she was awake, or alive._

" _Baby?" I said more urgently this time, "Baby, come on, you have to wake up!" I urged her,_

_Nothing. Her arm was twisted at a funny angle and there were the beginnings of some serious bruises all over her body. There was a gash on her neck that was bleeding profusely and I couldn't even reach over to stop it._

_I didn't even want to think about my own injuries. I could feel a cut on my own neck, I presumed from my seatbelt or some glass, and my wrist felt like it was on fire. I raised my uninjured right hand to my forehead and felt warm, sticky blood on it. Another injury to add to the list. I turned my attention back to Rachel,_

" _Rach?! Honey, you really have to wake up! Can you hear me?" I pleaded with her,_

_Nothing. Not even the slightest bit of movement. At this point, my panic levels had reached the point of no return. I was terrified. I was also extremely disoriented and confused. My brain wasn't properly processing all of the information in front of it. All I was thinking was, 'Why isn't she listening to me?'_

_I could hear some sirens wailing in the distance. 'Sirens,' I thought, 'Sirens are good,'_

_A voice spoke from somewhere beside the car,_

" _Ma'am, the EMT's are on their way, as are the police. Hold tight." He instructed calmly,_

_I liked his voice, it was soft, reassuring,_

_He kept on talking, saying, "Stay with us," and "You'll be fine," and I just kept listening to his calm voice, feeling safe enough to let my guard down and drift off to sleep…_

* * *

The beeping continued insistently, I groaned in annoyance, I just wanted to sleep.

'Wait,' I thought to myself, 'Where's Rachel?'

I slowly, and very painfully sat upright in the bed. I didn't feel as if anything was immediately wrong, I was just really sore all over.

I took a moment to look at my surroundings. I was in some kind of ward, clearly, and had a room that had a privacy curtain cutting down the middle of it. I was near a window, but its shutters were drawn shut, the room dark, with dim lighting.

I tried to move so that my legs hung over the edge of the bed, but when I put my weight on my left wrist, I yelped in pain, 'Okay, wrong wrist' I thought to myself. I bit my lip and just used my right hand to manoeuvre myself.

There was an IV of some sort in my arm, I assumed it was just for fluids or pain medication. There was also a catheter in my right arm, that didn't have any tubes attached to it at the moment.

There was some rattling at the door and a moment later a nurse walked in, looking down at a clipboard in her hands. I cleared my throat and she looked up in shock, "Oh! You're up! How are you feeling?" She asked with a smile as she went to check my vital signs,

I gritted my teeth, "How do you want me to answer that?" I asked her,

"Honestly, always honestly," She told me with a smile,

"Like crap. What the hell happened?" I asked her, though I already had a bit of a clue,

"Well, you were in a car crash," The girl, 'Amy' her nametag read, told me, "It was pretty bad, your car rolled several times down the hill before landing on the roof,  _you_  were very lucky." She explained,

'Hang on,  _I_ was lucky?'

"Where the hell is Rachel?" I demanded,

"Hmm?" Amy replied,

"Rachel, the girl who was in the car with me in the accident, she was driving, where the hell is she?" I repeated,

The nurse looked to the side a bit guiltily, an awkward look on her face, "She, uh, wasn't  _quite_  as lucky as you. She's in the ICU at the moment, whereas you managed to bypass it. Technically I'm not supposed to tell you but…"

"Are her fathers here yet?" I asked quickly, needing to know that there were people there for her,

"I believe so, there were actually several people in the hospital waiting room but they were all told to go home, something about a club…?" She trailed off,

"Glee club? The New Directions?"

"Yes! That's it, the New Directions, that's them."

"I need to see her," I told her,

"I'm not sure I can make that happen," Amy said uncertainly,

"Please, look, you can't tell anyone, but she's my girlfriend alright? I need to see her, talk to her, make sure she's okay." I pleaded,

The look on Amy's face softened slightly, "Okay, I'll walk you down to the ICU so you can see her. I'm not sure what her condition is though…" She warned,

I took a deep breath, "It's okay. I can handle it." I decided,

"Okay, let's go then."

She unhooked a couple of the wires that were attached to me, and removed the heart rate monitor, then she grabbed the IV pole and moved it so it was beside my bed,

"Okay, hold this to balance one side, and I'll support you from the other." She instructed,

I stood up slowly, holding the pole and the nurse's arm. It was quite painful, and I almost sat back down, but then I realised that Rachel was in a worse condition than this and I gritted my teeth in determination. I had to see her.

The nurse held my arm (very carefully because of the cast) and led me down countless corridors, through several of those annoying sliding door things, and we had to get in an elevator as the Intensive Care Ward was below us.

_Running, down corridors through, automatic doors_

_Got to get to you, got to see this through_

_I see hope is here, in a plastic box_

_I've seen Christmas lights reflect in your eyes_

As we approached the room, I saw Mr and Mr Berry standing outside her room talking in hushed tones, holding coffees in their hands, but probably not drinking them.

Hiram looked up at me and gasped, making me realise that I had no idea how bad I actually looked to other people,

"Quinn!?" He said in shock, "What are you doing here?" He asked, getting up and approaching me to give me a very careful hug,

"What on Earth happened to you?" LeRoy asked me, concern etched on his face, also coming forward to give me a hug,

I stuttered a bit, not actually sure how I was supposed to say it, but thankfully Amy saved me from answering, "She was the other passenger in the car, Sirs," She informed them carefully,

The realisation hit them, "Oh sweetie, we are so glad that you are ok." LeRoy said,

"Yeah, nobody told us there was another person with Rachie in the car," Hiram said confusedly,

"How is she?" I whispered tentatively, "Can I talk to her?"

LeRoy and Hiram shared a look, "Sweetie, Rachel is in a coma." Hiram told me,

I stumbled back a step, 'Why would Mr Berry lie to me?' I thought,

"You're lying." I accused, "She wouldn't do that to me,"

Hiram took a step forward, hands raised in defence, trying to calm me down, "Sweetie, I'm not lying. There was some serious swelling around her brain."

"No, no, you're lying!" I shouted at them,

Amy spoke up from beside me, "Maybe you should sit down Quinn," She told me, trying to calm me down,

"Don't touch me! Why are you all lying to me!?" I screeched at them, my eyes darting around all of them,

I made a decision and pushed past Hiram and LeRoy (I could apologise later) and stumbled into Rachel's room, using the IV pole to support me.

"No," I whispered brokenly when I saw her,

"NO!" I shouted, tears now streaming down my face, "Rachel, honey, you have to wake up! Do you remember what we were going to do tonight? You have to help me do it!" I pleaded with her, grabbing the hand closest to me,

She looked terrible. I could see the cut on her neck that I had noticed in the car, all stitched up and bloody. There were purple-red bruises covering her face and arms. At least, that's all I could see. She had wires, of different colours attached to her everywhere. A drip in one arm, and a catheter in the other. She was connected to a ventilator, the tube connecting to her mouth.

_You got wires, going in_

_You got wires, coming out of your skin_

_You got tears, making tracks_

_I got tears, that are scared of the facts_

My hand rose to cover my mouth as I choked on a sob, I fell to my knees next to her bed, bowing my head. My shoulders were shaking as I cried. I couldn't believe it. It was just hours ago (I think anyway) that we were planning on telling everyone that we were dating, now, she was stuck in a coma. Attached to a ventilator. Every time I started to stop crying, I remembered why I was crying in the first place and I started all over again.

I was trying to muffle the sound of my crying with my arm, but it obviously wasn't working all too well as there was soon someone behind me, wrapping their arm around my shoulders,

"Ssshhh, sweetie, it will be okay," It was Hiram, sounding like he was trying not to cry himself,

I turned around and threw my arms around him, crying even louder. Hiram seemed a bit hesitant, but he wrapped his arms around me anyway. I didn't know where my mom was at the moment, as we passed the waiting room outside the ward I think the nurse said something about her going to get Soph. I just accepted the comfort. Even if he didn't know why I was crying.

20 or so minutes later, I pulled myself together and asked if I could have a minute alone with Rach.

"Sure, Quinn. Take a few." Hiram agreed,

I wiped under my eyes, trying to be gentle as I could, as I also seemed to have multiple bruises and cuts on my face.

"Rachel?" I asked her cautiously before walking over to her bed, "Hey, sweetie." I paused slightly, "I'm here, okay? You just," I choked on a sob and took her hand, "You have to wake up, please?" I pleaded through my tears, "I'm here, you're not alone. Don't be afraid to wake up. You'll be fine. I love you." I told her, and kissed her hand, "I have to go talk to your dads, I'll be back. I promise. You will be fine." I swore to her,

_I see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

_I see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

I got up, kissing her head before I left the room. I approached her dads, and a doctor that was talking to them,

"What's wrong with her?" I interjected,

The doctor glanced to Mr and Mr Berry, and they nodded at him,

"Rachel experienced some major trauma in the car crash, as the car hit her first, at a relatively high speed. The police, by the way, suspect he may have been driving under the influence, so they are currently investigating. She had some internal bleeding due to trauma to her liver, which we fixed when we took her into the OR." The doctor paused to let that information sink in, "Several broken ribs, bruising all over her body, some minor and not so minor lacerations on her arms and legs. The worst cut was probably on her neck, but it narrowly missed a major artery and has been stitched up. The most severe trauma was to her head, which caused some major swelling in and around her brain which has resulted in her being in a coma."

I nodded my head, only actually taking in about 10% of what the doctor told me, "What does all of this mean? When is she going to wake up?" I questioned,

Once again, the doctor's eyes flicked to Rachel's parents, who nodded, before he continued, "Unfortunately we don't know. It could be tomorrow, it could be next week, next month, or…"

"Or…?" I prompted when he trailed off,

"Or it could be never." He said carefully, "She could remain in a persistent vegetative state, meaning that Rachel's parents," he gestured to the Berry's, "Who obviously are the designated medical decision makers, could eventually decide to turn off her life support."

I felt myself losing my balance, and Amy caught me from behind, "We need help over here!" I heard her call out before I once again, lost consciousness.

* * *

I woke up sometime later, curled up on my side, but kept my eyes closed as I heard a hushed conversation coming from one side of the room,

"She's going to be fine Sophie," I heard my mom say,

"What about Rachie?" A teary sounding Sophie asked,

I heard my mom sigh, "I don't know sweetie, I just don't know."

I let the tears fall down my face and decided to pretend to be asleep for a little bit longer.

* * *

**Rachel's POV (Day 1)**

I woke up in my bed, feeling nice and cosy under the covers.

"Rachel?" I heard a familiar voice call from beside me,

"Come in!" I replied, slightly confused as to why there was someone at my house in the morning, I turned to see someone walking up to my bed and sitting in a chair beside me, but I couldn't make out their face,

"Hey, sweetie." The person paused, they sounded female, but the voice was distorted,

"Hello," I replied politely,

"I'm here, okay?" She continued,

"I can tell." I joked though this person sounded serious,

"You just," she choked on a sob and took my hand, "You have to wake up, please?" I pleaded through my tears,

"Hey, I'm awake, don't cry." I tried to comfort the woman,

"I'm here, you're not alone. Don't be afraid to wake up."

"I'm already awake!" I objected,

"You'll be fine. I love you." She told me, ignoring my comment and kissing my hand, "I have to go talk to your dads, I'll be back"

"Hey, wait?! Who are you? Why are you leaving?" I called out to her,

She didn't answer, instead, she continued to walk out of the room.

I shrugged, feeling kind of weirded out about what just happened, but not really bothering to find an explanation for it.

I lay awake for a while, staring at my ceiling before my dads walked in,

"Hey Rachie," Daddy said,

"Morning Daddy!" I greeted cheerfully,

"You have to wake up okay, you wanted to talk to us about something important. You still have so much to do, school, Glee, just, please, wake up. We love you," He said, and then walked back out of the room,

I turned to my dad, confused, "I'm already awake! I'll get ready for school in a few minutes!" I told him,

"I love you, sweetie, won't be gone long." He promised, kissing me on the head and walking away,

I turned onto my side confused, this was a weird morning. I felt kind of sleepy so I let myself close my eyes, just five more minutes.


	2. Into That Good Night

**Quinn's POV**

I could hear a voice in my room, it sounded like they were talking to someone, probably on their phone. I blinked a few times before opening my eyes and turning over,

"I gotta go, I'll call you back okay?" Santana said to the person on the other end of the line, "Hey," She greeted,

"Hey Tana," I greeted back, sitting up in the bed with a groan,

"What happened?" Tana asked,

I looked at her in confusion,

"You passed out, outside Berry's room, what happened?" She clarified,

" _Rachel's_  room," I grumbled, "I was probably just stressed or something, nothing to worry about."

Santana quirked an eyebrow up at me, but nodded anyway,

"You literally just missed your mom. She didn't want to, but she left twenty minutes ago to take Soph to school. Didn't want her missing out on anything." Santana explained,

That was pretty annoying. At the moment, my mom was the only person that knew that Rach and I were friends, nobody else knew that. They certainly didn't know about the fact that the girl lying in a coma two floors below me was my girlfriend.

I buried my head in my hands, "This is so fucked up," I groaned,

"Yeah, don't worry Q, the police have interrogated the driver, turns out he was drink-driving. They've already pressed charges against him."

I shook my head in annoyance, 'Who gives a fuck about the guy who hit us? My girlfriend is in a fucking coma!' I thought to myself,

"Why were you in the car with Berry anyway?" Santana asked suspiciously,

Didn't think about that one,

"Uh, she was the only person left at school to give me a lift home," I answered,

"I thought your mum was giving you a lift? That's what you told Britt and me…"

"She, uh, was supposed to. But she forgot. Rachel was there to give me a lift, and we've been getting along slightly better recently." I came up with,

Santana raised an eyebrow again, but didn't continue with that subject,

"Where's the rest of Glee club?" I queried,

Santana shifted in her seat uncomfortably, "They're waiting near the ICU." She answered, "We all got the next two days off, just to see what happens, then we're going to take it in turns to visit Berry, but by that time you would have already been released."

Part of me was really glad that Rachel had people there for her, and part of me felt upset at the fact that no-one had come to see me. Then that part felt extremely guilty for feeling that.

A woman strolled into the room,

"Oh good, you're up. I was starting to think you'd sleep forever!" She joked,

Really? Could this woman be any more insensitive,

"Like the driver of the car?" I shot back,

"Ah, right, you were in the two-vehicle collision, the driver of your car is in a coma, is she not?" She confirmed,

I raised an eyebrow at her, unimpressed,

"Right, well." The doctor coughed, "Since your injuries were fairly minor, we should be able to let you go tonight, we just had to keep you in longer because you passed out, we wanted to check that it hadn't been due to any brain trauma we had missed." She explained,

"Okay, then what happens?" I questioned,

"Well, we will let you go home after your…" She checked the clipboard in her hands, "Mother signs the discharge papers, then you will have to be back in four weeks to see how you're doing. We may or may not be able to take the cast off then." She continued,

I nodded, "Thank you, doctor," I replied,

"No problem, I'll see you before you leave." She farewelled,

It's funny, the doctor said I would be able to leave that day, but I had a feeling I would get  _very_ familiar with this hospital over the next few weeks…

* * *

**Rachel's POV (Day 2)**

I walked into school that morning very tired but also looking forward to the day. I had Glee after school and all my favourite subjects.

"Hey, Rachel," A man with a beautiful high voice greeted, sounding slightly, off, but I shook that thought away,

"Hello," I replied, "Beautiful day isn't it?"

"It's a beautiful day today isn't it?" He chuckled, apparently completely ignoring my comment,

"I just said that," I replied indignantly,

We walked into the choir room and took seats next to each other,

"I don't really know what to talk about," He said, sounding nervous,

I turned to look at the guy, I couldn't really tell what he looked like, the light was shining on his face,

"Talk about anything," I replied with a shrug,

"Everybody's here, you know," He said,

"Everybody's where? School?" I asked him, confused about the statement,

"I'm sure Tina wants to talk to you." He laughed,

Tina, why would she want to talk to me? I saw her yesterday,

"I saw a hideous animal sweater online; you would have loved it." The man chuckled,

"Well, I am quite partial to the odd animal sweater," I pondered,

He shifted in his seat, "Look, I don't know if she knows, but Lucy isn't here. Or at least, I haven't seen her. I don't know how to contact her, and when I asked your dads, they didn't know who she was, and they can't unlock your phone, so…" He trailed off,

"It's okay," I replied, not really sure who Lucy was, or why she would be at McKinley, we don't have any students named Lucy at McKinley,

The man sniffed, "You just, you have to wake up, okay?" He pleaded with me,

"Hey," I said, grabbing the man's hand, "I am awake silly, don't cry,"

He stood up, "I have to go, but when I come back you better be awake." He said in a mock stern voice and walked away.

* * *

I sat up in bed with a jolt. Jesus, that was a realistic dream. 'Wait, I'm not in my bed.' I thought to myself, looking around in confusion, I was on a beach, it was nice. Very warm, and comforting.

There was a lady sitting next to me legs out, arms supporting her, and staring out at the sea. Again, the light was shining on her awkwardly so I couldn't make out her face,

"Hey Rach," She greeted,

"Hey," I greeted back, relaxing slightly. Her voice was calm and familiar. She made me feel safe,

"I'm not going to school today, or tomorrow." She announced,

I chuckled, "I can see that." I told her, gesturing out to the ocean,

"I just want to spend time here, with you, be with my best friend." She said, sounding very sincere,

"I like the company," I told her, which was true, I much preferred being with someone, whether that was at school, or the beach,

"You know, we all love you, right Rach?" She said, grabbing my hand,

"Who's we?" I asked her,

"All of us, Puck, myself, Mercedes, Kurt, everybody in Glee club wants you to get through." She said sincerely,

"Get through what, exactly?" I checked,

"I decided that I would read a poem to you," She told me, ignoring the question, "It's one of my favourites,"

"Go ahead," I said, lying back on the sand. I loved poems. They were one of my favourite things.

" _Do not go gentle into that good night,_  
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 _Though wise men at their end know dark is right,_  
Because their words had forked no lightning they  
Do not go gentle into that good night." She paused slightly,

I closed my eyes, this was a nice poem.

" _Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright_  
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 _Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,_  
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,  
Do not go gentle into that good night.

 _Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight_  
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 _And you, my father, there on the sad height,_  
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.  
Do not go gentle into that good night.  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

I could feel myself drifting off to sleep with the last words of the poem, calm and content.

The next day, I was resting at home when the doorbell rang,

"Coming!" I yelled out,

I went to open it and was presented with a tall young man on the other side,

"Hello." I greeted politely,

"Hey, my Jewish-American princess." He greeted back,

I laughed at the nickname, who comes up with this stuff? But, saying that, I actually found I like it.

"Would you like to come in?" I offered,

He pushed past me and went to sit in my kitchen,

"I don't know what to feel right now." He admitted,

"About what?" I queried,

"I'm angry, like, super pissed off. I hate that bastard. Then, I'm just, so, upset. I'm so sad, and scared that I might not see you alive again." He continued, wiping one tear from his face,

I waved my hand in front of his face, "Uh, hello? You're seeing me alive, right now." I pointed out,

He laughed, "If you tell anyone I cried I will kick your ass." He joked,

I could tell he didn't mean it. He looked like he was trying to be all bad-ass and everything, but he seemed like a big softie to me.

We continued talking for around 20-30 minutes, I think, before he told me he had to get home. So I said goodbye to him, and went to sleep.

* * *

A cheerio approached me at school the next day and put her hand on my forehead,

"Hey! What are you doing?" I snapped at her, hitting her hand away,

"You're burning up! We need some ice!" She called out to some of the nearby Cheerios,

"What? Why ice? What are you…"

I trailed off at the end of the sentence and felt myself falling to the ground.

* * *

The next time I woke up, I was in a gorgeous place. I was sitting by a crystal blue lake. Was this  _Alaska_? It  _was_  really cold, freezing, even, I just pulled my coat around me and looked around.

I could see the beautiful snow-capped mountains off in the distance. It looked bright, it couldn't be Winter here, there were bright flowers hidden amongst the crisp, bright green grass. There were green trees scattered everywhere, and you could see animals flitting in and out of the grass around them.

I heard footsteps and looked up to see my daddy walking up next to me,

"Cold, huh?" He joked lightly,

"Freezing." I replied with a smile, "It's beautiful here. Do you see the bear over there?" I asked, pointing to a brown bear that was wandering around in the distance,

"Dad is getting coffee, more coffee, and I thought I would come sit here with you for a while." He told me, sitting down,

"That's fine. It's nice to have some company." I replied,

"Nice to have some company huh?" He asked,

I frowned, I just said that,

"I really don't know what I should talk about honey. I feel like an awful parent." He confided,

"It doesn't matter daddy," I reassured him,

"You know, you kind of worried your dad and me when you said you wanted to talk to us, and now you can't even tell us what you were going to say!" He laughed bitterly,

"Sorry." I apologised,

His phone rang,

"Sorry, this will be your Aunt, she's worried about you, I have to take this, I'll be back." He apologised and walked off.

* * *

The next time I woke up, I was in a park that was overlooking a park. It was sunset, and the sky was a beautiful swirl of oranges, pinks, purples and reds.

"Hey, sweetie." A voice came from beside me,

"Hello there," I replied,

I assumed that the voice came from the young woman sat beside me,

"I'm out today." She told me vaguely,

"Out of what, where?" I queried confusedly,

She sighed bitterly and rested back on her elbows,

"Life is so unfair, isn't it? Would this count as irony?" She asked, "You spend so long lying, then when you try to tell the truth, you are effectively  _sworn_ to silence by something you couldn't control?"

I tilted my head, not sure what the woman was talking about, but considering her problem, "I'm not quite sure." I replied,

Another voice entered the conversation, "You have to leave ma'am." They informed her,

"Can't I stay a bit longer?" She whined,

"I'm sorry ma'am." The voice apologised,

"I'll be back, I love you." She swore to me, kissing my hand and walking away.

I wasn't sure why she kissed my hand, but I didn't hate it, it was familiar, comforting.

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

After I got discharged, my mom walked me back to the ICU, to see Rachel. My arm was in a sling, fortunately, it didn't hurt much, and I had a couple of dressings over my cuts, namely the one on my neck, but apart from that, I was relatively unharmed. Physically, at least.

I only got to talk to Rach a minute or so before a doctor kicked me out because they needed to check her, I was like, 'Who the hell are you to keep me from seeing my girlfriend?', but I didn't want to be dragged out by security, so I begrudgingly obliged.

"Are you alright sweetie?" My mom asked carefully as we walked back out to the car,

"No," I replied,

We were silent for the next few minutes before my mom spoke up,

I could hear her sigh, and she pulled the car over,

"Sweetie," She said, grabbing my hand, "You know I love Rachel, so does Sophie. Does she love you back? You never told me..."

A couple more tears fell down my face, "We were going to," I sniffed, "We were supposed to tell you yesterday but…" I trailed off,

"Does anyone else know?" She asked, brushing the tears from my face,

"You're the first," I replied with mock enthusiasm, "Remember how I told you I was going to Rachel's tonight?"

My mom nodded,

"We were going to tell her dads that we were dating, then come back to ours and tell you, then today we were supposed to tell Glee club. By tomorrow we suspected it would be all over the school." I laughed bitterly,

"Oh sweetie, I wish you would have told me sooner, you know how tough school will be after this, I would have tried to help."

"I know. But we can't tell anyone at the moment, Rachel isn't even awake yet." I said bitterly,

"She'll wake up soon, you just have to have faith sweetie." She comforted, and pulled me into an awkward hug over the centre console of the car.

So, I waited. I visited Rachel every day in the hospital. I skipped a class or two every now and then so I could avoid seeing people there. I sometimes read to her or sing. Sometimes just talking to her and telling her how much I wanted her to be there with me, awake. Her fathers got used to seeing me there and were very kind to me whenever I visited. I think they were a bit confused about my relationship with Rachel, but they always left us alone when I came, to be honest, I think they were grateful for a break, without having to feel guilty about leaving her alone.

"Hey Rach," I greeted when I walked in, a week and 6 days after the accident,

I was officially exhausted and felt extremely guilty for feeling that way. Two weeks later, and Rachel was still in a coma. We ended up missing our first Valentines day because of this crash. It seems like a silly thing to be upset about, but I think it's just one thing on a long list. It was also emotionally exhausting because the New Directions were all leaning on each other, and supporting each other, and I didn't get the same treatment. Her girlfriend, of all people, is the one who is expected to be the least affected by this. I never visited Rachel when I knew the other New Directions members would be there, Santana had texted me their little schedule, so that I could be alone when I saw her. Obviously, Santana didn't know that, but I figured she would figure it out eventually.

"So, I bought my laptop, so we can do BuzzFeed quizzes together!" I said excitedly,

Of course, Rachel didn't respond. It's funny though, I kept on looking to her after I said something, completely expecting her to just, respond to me. It was getting disheartening, just, talking to someone who wasn't hearing me.

I scrolled through the website until I found something interesting,

"Ooooh Rachel, let's try appealing to the bashful side of you." I cleared my throat, "Apparently this quiz will, and I quote, 'Reveal Your Secret Sex Talent'. Seeing as we  _love_  secrets, let's give it a go." I said half-sarcastically,

"Okay, pick the scenery that makes you feel the most relaxed." I read her all of the options, and looked at her carefully,

"Well, your favourite season is Autumn, so let's pick the long, windy Autumn road, surrounded by orange-leaved trees. I think you'd like."

Sometimes, I imagined Rachel responding to me, sometimes it seemed like she smiled slightly, or that her eyelids flickered, I could practically hear her responses in my mind. Yes, I was slowly going mad, but as long as it happened when I was with Rachel, I didn't mind  _so_  much.

"Okay, the second one is; Pick the one that makes you feel the most anxious." I described all of the pictures to her, "Okay, they're all kind of creepy. Especially the girl that has a balloon for a head, but you're deathly afraid of heights, and you love animals, so I'm going to go with the Rhino balancing on a plank between two buildings."

There it was again! I could've sworn I saw her smile! The doctors had already talked to the Berry's, and I had overheard, and they said that you'll know when she's waking up. Like, that it would be obvious, not something you could imagine. So, moving on...

"Next one; Pick the light you would hang in your room. Okay, so it's basically a bunch of light up sign things. Ooh, this one is hard. There is a star, but there is also a Treble clef and a musical note. Okay, let's go with the star shall we?" I glanced at her for confirmation, "It is your signature after all."

"Final one! What image best represents your love life, well  _our_  love life." I chuckled, "They're a bunch of like, tea stains or something. I'm picking the one that kind of looks like two hands… Okay, drumroll please…" I pause for dramatic value, "You got; The Best Imagination. Ooh, here's what it says, 'Being with you is the most fun anyone could have because you're either inventing super-hot role-play scenarios, talking deliciously dirty or suggesting some truly wild stuff. We're very into it.'" I laughed, "We'll definitely have to test this theory when you wake up. I want to trial run your  _imagination_." I decided with a smirk,

Rachel and I hadn't gone all the way yet; we were still waiting for the right moment. I was still kind of hoping the BuzzFeed quiz prove to be correct.

I walked out of her room half an hour later, because I had gotten a call from my mom to come home for dinner. I swear the only reason I had been eating anything was that my mom made me come home and literally forced food down my throat. I wasn't living, I was just, surviving. Already I had become, I don't like the word dependant, but it's kind of true, I had become dependent on Rachel.

* * *

I was in my bedroom that Wednesday evening, 2 weeks and 2 days since Rachel had been in the hospital, that I got a text,

'Get your ass to the hospital. x'-Tana,

I jumped out of my bed in a panic, what was going on? Had the Berry's finally decided to take her off of life support? Was she awake?

"MOM!" I shouted as I pulled on a jumper and brushed my hair back into a messy ponytail,

"Yes, sweetie?" My mother replied in a soft voice from the bottom of the stairs,

"We gotta go! Like, yesterday! Tana told me to go to the hospital and I don't know what the hell is going on." I rambled to her,

"Calm down sweetie, go get in the car and I'll tell Sophie to come down."

My mom drove as fast as she could down to the hospital (a little faster if you asked me) and we ended up making it in a fairly short time, arriving twenty minutes later. My mom had barely stopped the car when I jumped out and sprinted towards the hospital. Not even bothering to bypass the front desk, I jogged straight to the ICU and skidded to a stop outside Rachel's room.

I paused for a moment, not sure if I was prepared for what was facing me behind the door. I knocked softly and entered the room,

There she was, sitting up in her bed, surrounded by the Glee club and her dads and a woman I didn't recognise (her aunt),

"Rach!" I exclaimed and I ran over to her to give her a hug, "I can't believe you're okay, I was so worried about you." I told her, a couple of tears slipping down my cheeks,

She pushed me off of her, "Uh, Quinn… wouldn't have expected to see you here." She replied, a little bit coldly,

I pulled back to look her in the eyes, "Excuse me?" I asked her in disbelief, "Where the hell else would I be?" I demanded, not quite liking the thinly veiled accusation that I wouldn't be there for my girlfriend,

She avoided my glance and looked around the room, "Well, we just, don't talk that much, is all. I thought you were still mad at me about the Finn thing." She explained,

OH! She was trying to keep up the act for our friends, right.

"Where's Matt?" She asked curiously, the question directed at the room, not me personally, no, she was ignoring me,

"Who?" Kurt questioned,

"Uh, hello? Rutherford? Football? Glee? I kind of thought he would be here, I mean, the rest of you made it." She said innocently,

"Rachel…" Hiram started carefully, "Do you remember what year it is?"

"Of course I do Daddy." She said, rolling her eyes in exasperation, "It's 2010, middle of my Sophomore year."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it really, Rachel? Is it really? Sorry guys! You're probably going to hate me even more! You know when you're writing super intense scenes and you are writing them really quickly and your fingers can't even keep up? Yeah, that was me in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed, and I will see you next time! Please review, they make me write faster and betterer. :D –Lauren's Glee Stories
> 
> The poem is real, 'Do not go gentle into that good night'-Dylan Thomas. I first heard it in Interstellar and instantly fell in love with it, it's beautiful.
> 
> The BuzzFeed quiz is also real if anybody was wondering.


	3. Options

**Quinn's POV**

I burst out laughing as the rest of the room exchanged worried glances, now for Rachel and a clearly psychotic me.

I wiped under my eyes and turned to Rachel, still chuckling a bit, "Good one Rach, now, tell 'em. We agreed to, remember?" I told her, smiling in reassurance and reaching for her hand,

She pulled away from me, "Rach?" She asked with distaste, "What happened to 'Berry'?" She said mockingly, "Why are you even here Quinn?" She glared at me,

My heart dropped, why was she talking to me like that? Did she blame me for the accident? It wasn't entirely my fault, was it?

"Rach," I said in a pleading tone, completely ignoring the others in the room, "Come on, babe, just tell everybody, you know, about…" I looked at her pointedly,

She laughed bitterly, "Babe? What's gotten into your head, Fabray? This  _sure_  is some funny joke. Tell everybody what?" She asked, shuffling away from me,

I froze. What was she talking about?

Someone cleared their throat and I was pulled out of my thoughts, "I'm sorry, Rachel, sweetie," Kurt started, "But what were you saying about Matt?" He queried,

"I was just wondering where he was, everybody else is here." She answered,

Motherfucker. I could see Hiram and LeRoy exchange a glance, and I could Hiram look at me in my peripheral vision, but I wasn't paying attention. I was focused solely on my girlfriend.

"Matt isn't here, sweetie. He transferred to another school, middle of 2010, the end of Sophomore year." Kurt reminded her gently, trying to not jump to any conclusions.

Rachel laughed, the same beautiful sound it always was. "Don't be silly Kurt, we're in Sophomore year, remember? We just did 'Taylor' week." She said with a knowing,

I turned to look at Rachel's dads in a panic,

"I'm going to go and get her doctor," Hiram muttered to LeRoy, and he walked out of the room,

"Rachel, babe, please tell me you do remember? Please tell me this is some joke," I pleaded with my girlfriend,

"I don't know what you're talking about Fabray." She said coldly, "Last I remember we," She motioned between us, "Don't get along. You hate me at the moment because I 'stole Finn from you'" She said with quote marks, "And I hate you because you're a cold-hearted bi-atch that couldn't care less about anyone other than herself."

I actually stumbled back a step, she didn't remember anything. And she just called me a cold-hearted bitch. What the fuck is going on?

Everybody in the room was looking at me weirdly, some were glaring at me coldly, and others (namely Tana) were looking plain confused.

I ignored everybody else, and turned to Rachel, I went up to her and took her hand in mine,

"Babe, please, please, I'm telling you, you have to remember me," I begged,

"Don't you dare touch me." She threatened, pulling her hand away from me and crossing her arms,

"But I…"

"I don't have time for your little games or your insults. Get the hell out of my room." She demanded loudly,

"Rachel," I looked at her pleadingly,

She turned away, putting her nose up in the air,

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Come out with me for a second." LeRoy told me, and he guided me out of the room,

"I don't understand your friendship with my daughter." He said simply, once we were outside in the corridor,"I'm confused, because you have been in the hospital every day Rachel was in a coma, yet she seems to hate you and believes you hate her back." He continued,

I made to object but he held his hands up to stop me,

"Now I know, relationships change over time, and she doesn't remember anything since the middle of her Sophomore year, which isn't your fault, by the way. I talked to some of the other Glee club members about you." He informed me with a pointed look,

I pulled at my collar slightly, "And?" I asked hopefully,

"They were all very surprised that you had come to see Rachel. Not surprised that you had visited each day that she was in a coma, or in passing on your way out of the hospital. But they were surprised that you visited her at all. They are under the impression that you and my daughter despise each other, always have. They were surprised that you were in the car with her, and that neither of you killed each other before the car hit you. AND, that you were heading a strange route home." He said, taking a deep breath and looking at me sternly, "Can you tell me the answers to any of those questions? Can you tell me why the people in Glee club are under that impression?"

I opened my mouth but closed it again, it wasn't my secret to tell. Rachel had to tell them.

He took my silence as an answer and continued speaking, "Do you, by any chance, have anything to do with what Rach was going to tell Hiram and I that day after school?" He asked me,

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." I lied smoothly,

He raised an eyebrow at me, but continued with his speech, "Look, kid, I don't know if this is some joke, or prank, or dare. I don't know if you're here out of some guilt. I just know that I can't trust someone who has treated my daughter like that, past or not. I'm sorry, but I can't let you visit Rachel anymore. You can see her when she is back at school if she even wants you too." He said firmly,

I paled, "No, you can't do that! Please, I will do anything!" I begged him desperately,

"I'm sorry." He said again. He nodded at me and walked back inside to see Rachel.

I put my hand over my mouth in an attempt muffle my cries but it wasn't much use, I was devastated. I jogged out of the corridor and kept running until I found myself in a stairwell. I sat down on a landing, slid down the wall and put my head in my hands. My entire body was shaking with the sheer force of my tears, and I made no attempt to quieten down. I just couldn't believe that not only did Rachel not remember being my girlfriend, but she hated me. I clenched the necklace that was hanging from my neck in my fist. It had been from Rachel, a tiny little gift, to say I love you. It matched the earrings she had gotten me, a snowflake. Loud sobs echoed around me as I continued crying, now desperately trying to pull myself together but not being able too.

I started thinking about what was going to happen with us, and how I just could not lose Rachel and I started hyperventilating, my breaths coming less often, everything around me fading into the background.

"Quinn?" A voice entered my thoughts, "Quinn, honey, you have to calm down for me, okay? Breathe, in, and out." The person instructed calmly and I tried desperately to follow her example,

Within ten minutes or so, my breathing had finally evened out, and I had found myself looking up at my mom. A couple of fresh tears fell down my face, "It's bad mom," I said tearfully,

"What's bad? I heard she was awake?" My mom queried, moving to sit next to me,

"Amnesia." I answered, "She doesn't fucking remember anything." I swore, "She hates me, despises me, loathes me!"

"Oh, sweetie," My mom sighed, not even bothering to correct me on my swearing, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." She comforted, pulling me into a hug,

"She doesn't remember me," I said in a small voice,

My mom just hugged me tighter, "She will, sweetie, some amnesiacs regain their lost memories really quickly."

'Some.' I thought despondently, 'Some.'

I sat there with my mom, crying silently, thinking about the time where my life turned into one of those crappy romantic comedies. Except, in real life, people didn't always get their happy ending.

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

I had woken up from my coma several hours ago. Apparently, I had been in one for two and a bit weeks, after I got into a serious car crash and there was swelling around my brain. I didn't remember the crash, but my doctor said that was normal.

I was ecstatic because once I had fully woken up, and been checked over by my doctors and nurses, I convinced my dads to call my friends and tell them that I had woken up. They called Tina and Noah, and within minutes they had gotten calls back saying that they were all going to come to the hospital. My dads also called my Aunt, as apparently, she had been very worried about me.

There was a knock on the door, and I pulled myself up straighter and tugged at my hair. The door opened and revealed a timid looking Tina, with Noah standing next to her.

Tina put her hand over her mouth and ran over to me, tears of (what I hope was) joy, streaming down her face,

"I didn't want to believe them! I was half expecting something horrible to have happened to you." She told me, trying to wipe her tears away,

"Uh, I missed you too," I said slightly awkwardly,

A throat cleared,

"Yes, Noah?" I queried curiously,

"Princess," He nodded, trying to keep some of his bad-ass reputation intact,

"I missed you, princess,"

"Well, I'm fine now," I reassured him, again, slightly awkwardly,

He was going to respond when there was another knock at the door,

"Come in!" Noah responded,

The door swung open to reveal my Aunt, looking confused as she stood next to the New Directions and Mr Schue.

She smiled at me and gave me a hug, and all of the other New Directions members came forward to greet me.

"It's nice to see you all. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages," I told them,

"We're just so glad you're awake, Rachel," Kurt said on behalf of the group,

 

There was another knock at the door, and someone called for the person to come in.

Okay, was I seeing things? Quinn 'Head Bitch of McKinley' Fabray, had decided to visit me while I was in the hospital?

"Rach!" She exclaimed and she ran over to me and gave me a hug, "I can't believe you're okay, I was so worried about you." I told her, a couple of tears slipping down my cheeks,

Her voice sounded strangely familiar, and not in the 'I've known her since the start of Junior Year' kind of way, but in a different way that I couldn't put my finger on. All I could focus on at the time was the fact that I did not want Quinn hugging me. Whatever sick joke this was, I didn't care for.

I pushed her off of me, "Uh, Quinn… wouldn't have expected to see you here." I replied coldly,

"Excuse me?" She asked me in a disbelieving tone, "Where the hell else would I be?" She demanded,

'Uh, anywhere but here? Please?' I thought to myself,

"Well, we just, don't talk that much, is all. I thought you were still mad at me about the Finn thing." I tried to explain nicely,

Hang on, "Where's Matt?" I asked curiously, directing the question towards everyone in the room,

"Who?" Kurt replied,

"Uh, hello? Rutherford? Football? Glee? I kind of thought he would be here, I mean, the rest of you made it." I said with a bit of a laugh, who else would I be talking about?

"Rachel…" Daddy said carefully, "Do you remember what year it is?"

Uh, what kind of a question was  _that?_

"Of course I do Daddy." I replied rolling my eyes, "It's 2010, middle of my Sophomore year."

Quinn burst out laughing and the rest of the room exchanged a look.

"Good one Rach, now, tell 'em. We agreed to remember." Quinn told me, smiling and trying to grab my hand,

She pulled away from me, "Rach?" I asked, getting extremely fed up with this act, "What happened to 'Berry'?" I asked her mockingly, "Why are you even here Quinn?" I glared at her,

"Rach, come on, babe, just tell everybody, you know, about…"

I laughed at her, "Babe? What's gotten into your head, Fabray? This sure is some cruel joke. Tell everybody what?"

Someone cleared their throat "I'm sorry, Rachel, sweetie," Kurt started, "But what were you saying about Matt?" He queried,

"I was just wondering where he was, everybody else is here," I answered, kind of disappointed that someone would miss my big 'waking up celebration'.

"Matt isn't here, sweetie. He transferred to another school, middle of 2010, the end of Sophomore year." Kurt told me,

I laughed at him, what is he going on about, are they trying to prank me? Because that's pretty low. "Don't be silly Kurt, we're in Sophomore year, remember? We just did 'Taylor' week."

Yes, Taylor week, we must have finished the day I got into the accident,

"I'm going to go and get her doctor." My daddy muttered to my dad, and he walked out of the room,

"Rachel, babe, please tell me you do remember? Please tell me this is some joke,"

What is it with this girl? Babe? What the fuck is she trying to pull?

"I don't know what you're talking about Fabray." I told her coldly, "Last I remember we," I motioned between us, "Don't get along. You hate me at the moment because I 'stole Finn from you'" I said using quote marks, "And I hate you because you're a cold-hearted bi-atch that couldn't care less about anyone other than herself."

Quinn literally stumbled back from me, which kind of confused me, as I had called her much worse things than 'Bi-atch' before,

Some people in the room where glaring at Quinn, whereas others looked just as confused as I felt,

She took my hand in hers,

"Babe, please, please, I'm telling you, you have to remember me." She begged,

'OK,' I thought, 'Rachel Berry is officially done with this crap,'

"Don't you dare touch me." I threatened, pulling my hand away and crossing my arms,

"But I…"

"I don't have time for your little games or your insults. Get the hell out of my room." I demanded,

"Rachel," she looked at me pleadingly,

I turned away from her, a sign that I wasn't going to talk anymore,

My dad placed a hand on her shoulder and led her out of the room.

I turned back to face the people in the room,

"What in the world was that?" I asked, laughing incredulously,

"That girl is just trying to mess with your head," Mercedes explained, "If she gives you any trouble, just come to us, I'm always free to cut a bitch."

Finn and the guys nodded, "Yeah, Rach, don't let Quinn push you around." He told me,

Moments later I heard some crying coming from the hallway. Jesus, that person sounded absolutely devastated. It absolutely broke my heart. The crying, weirdly, sounded kind of familiar. And I badly wanted to comfort the stranger. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, they must have just lost someone they loved. I tried to tune them out but didn't need to for long, as the cries faded.

A doctor walked in with my dads the next minute and looked around the room, "Everybody out. You can come back in half an hour or so, I need to speak with the patient." He said sternly, but not unkindly,

There was a bunch of groaning and whining but they all did what my doctor had told them to do, and filed out of the room,

"Now, Rachel," The doctor said after everyone had left, "Let's talk about the full extent of your injuries."

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

I was in my bedroom, curled up on my bed, under my covers, crying my eyes out. I still couldn't believe it. How could I make her remember? I couldn't live without her. Normally, she would have said the same thing. Now, she couldn't even stand for me to be in the same room as her.

I glared at my phone. It was sitting there, teasing me. Tempting me to call Rachel when I knew I shouldn't. Should I tell her in person, or should I just text or call? Well, if I were to tell her in person, I'd have wait until she got out of the hospital. If I called her, I could just pick up the phone and tell her, right now.

I made a snap decision and picked up the phone, I swiped to enter and hovered over the 'Maria' contact for a split second, before deciding to do it, and pressing the call button.

_*Ring-Ring*_

"Pick up, pick up," I muttered with my fingers crossed,

_*Ring-Ring*_

_*Ring-Ri-*_

" _Um, hi, this is Rachel, may I ask who's speaking?"_ She greeted a little unsurely,

"Rach, you know who it is, my number is in your phone," I reminded her fondly,

" _Well,_ _ **Fabray**_ _, if you must know, the contact,_ _ **TLC,**_ _is on my phone, are you calling from their number?"_ She accused,

"Yes, I went back in time and stole their non-existent cell-phone. I apologise." I said, completely deadpan,

Rachel laughed sarcastically,  _"Very funny. You have 10 minutes, maximum before I hang up this phone. Go."_

"Shit babe, okay,"

" _And no 'babe' comments. You're creeping me out,"_ She added,

"Would sweetie be better?" I teased,

" _You're running out of time."_ She said pointedly,

"Shit, fuck, okay. Look, Rach, I know this is all weird and messed up for you, seeing as you lost a lot of your memory, but we are dating." I told her, straight to the point,

Rachel laughed on the other line,  _"Why would_ _ **I**_ _be going out with_ _ **you**_ _? I don't even like girls."_ She replied coldly,

'Shit, I'm practically outing the girl to herself!' I thought,

"Well, you do like girls. You found out not last October, but the one before that, Junior year." I reminded her,

She scoffed but didn't say anything, so I continued, "You always say you fell in love with me in me in March. That the whole thing kind of snuck up on you, then kept on growing until it was love." I told her,

 _"Ha-ha,"_  She said sarcastically,  _"Why should I believe you? I could never fall in love with you."_

"I've got evidence everywhere Rach!" I told her in exasperation, "You probably do too."

" _Look, I don't want to talk to you anymore. You're the_ _ **slut** who slept with her boyfriends best friend,_ _"_ I gasped at that comment, _"And I'm the_ _ **'boyfriend stealing whore'**_ _that you can't stand. Goodbye."_  She said, and hung up the phone,

I stared at my phone in shock, tears pricking in my eyes. Did she just call me a  _slut?_  I had to remind myself, that this wasn't Rachel. Well, it wasn't this year version Rachel, it was her from a time where I bullied her, trying to make her life miserable because I thought she ruined mine. Looking back on it, I was probably trying to disguise my feelings. This girl wasn't my girlfriend, this was like, a year before she even knew she liked girls. I needed to remember that she was just acting on Rachel 2010's thoughts and feelings, not  _my_  Rachel.

I lay back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I considered my options. 1; Do nothing, let Rachel be, and let her continue, happy, her own life. I winced, yeah, not an option, unfortunately. 2; Wait around for, or try to help Rachel gain back her memories. 3; Make her fall in love with me. I'd done it once (unintentionally too); I was convinced I could do it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!!! Please leave a comment if you did, I love reading them!   
> NEW EDIT!-I apologise, but I just realised that the scene with Rachel, Noah and Tina in Rachel's Hospital room, in her POV, was incorrect. I forgot about the whole 'amnesia' thing, ironic, huh, and that Noah and Tina had been friends with Rachel only since the previous year, therefore, Rachel wouldn't have any memories of their friendships, I fixed it, I think, and I'm sorry!


	4. Rules, Schmools

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!!

**Quinn's POV**

It was hell. Living without Rachel. I get that it's not like she died or anything (because I don't know what I would do if that had happened), but her losing all memory of me, was killing me. I didn't know what I was supposed to do about it. Only one person knew about me and Rach's relationship, nobody else even thought that we were friends. If they thought we were friends, it wouldn't be so hard to believe. But from arch enemies, to dating? That wasn't the most believable story.

I walked into the school that day not looking forward to the school at all. Rachel was still in the hospital so that eliminated one of the best bits of my day. I knew that she would probably be out in a few days, after the initial recovery process, but that didn't really help me at the moment. As I walked, I kept my eyes out for any of the other Glee club members, it honestly surprised me that none of them had approached me to talk to me yet. I was fully expecting all of them to interrogate me about my actions at the hospital. It was like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But sure enough, as I approached my locker, I could Puck leaning up against it in an ever so slightly threatening pose.

"Hello, Puck." I greeted nonchalantly, pushing past him slightly to access my locker,

"What's your angle?" He demanded,

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied smoothly,

He slammed my locker shut, "Your little stunt at the hospital, that's what! Look, Quinn, I don't know what kind of sick game this is but stay away from Rachel. Completely. Remember, I probably have some dirt on you somewhere, so don't mess with her." He threatened, before walking off down the corridor,

He did have a point, I guess. He probably did have  _some_  dirt on me _somewhere,_  but he was a fool if he thought I was going to give up that easily. I was going to fight for Rachel with all I had. If that meant a couple of bitch slaps or a bit of blackmail here and there, then so be it. Quinn Fabray had both done  _and_ received worse things.

* * *

The next people to approach me were Kurt and Mercedes, at the start of lunch.

"Hello, Quinn Fabray." Kurt greeted coolly,

"Kurt," I nodded, "Mercedes."

"Look, we don't know what your game is. But you can't pick on Rachel. We're not going to let you." Kurt threatened,

"I have no idea what you are talking about," I replied calmly,

"Look here white girl, you touch a hair on Berry's head and I will cuts you. Got it?" Mercedes threatened,

I rolled my eyes, "Have a nice day." I replied, walking away from the both of them, only to bump into a fierce looking Tina and a slightly less fierce looking Mike in the hallway.

"You best stay away from my best friend Quinn. I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play, but it's time to end it." Tina said warningly,

"Why does everyone always assume I'm the bad guy?" I whined, throwing my hands up,

Tina just  _looked_  at me, that  _one_  look hurt me more than any of the words she could have said,

"Look, Quinn, it's like kicking a man when he's down," Mike reasoned, "Just lay off."

"Stay away from Rachel." She threatened once more, before walking off, Mike trailing behind her,

It was getting kind of wearing that people assumed I was going to hurt Rachel. It was also kind of frustrating that everyone was talking Rachel's side in whatever this was. They always did, mind you. I was kind of jealous about that, even though I tried not to be. Rachel always used to assure me that it wasn't me they didn't like, but how they thought I treated her, and that when she crossed any lines herself, they would talk to her also. It was always supposed to get better after we told everyone. But, no. For the moment, all I had to focus on was getting my girlfriend back.

* * *

The next two people that broached the topic with me, were Santana and Brittany when I sat down with them at lunch.

"Look, Q," Santana started, "You know I'm on your side, no matter what, and I love messing with Grandma Berry as much as the next girl."

I had to try  _really_  hard not to slap her at  _that_  comment,

"But this thing with Rachel? Kind of wrong. In  _my_  books. My moral compass doesn't exactly point due north, but if I say something's wrong? Something's wrong." She said softly,

I huffed, not even bothering to correct her or argue the point.

"Yeah Quinn, Rachel's a really beautiful unicorn and you shouldn't be mean to her." Brittany reprimanded,

"I know, Britt." I acknowledged truthfully,

To be honest? I thought my two best friends would know me better than that. That they would know that I wouldn't stoop so low for a laugh. But, on the other hand, I had given them no reason to believe anything else, so it wasn't fair of me to blame them.

I just nodded and turned my attention back to my lunch. It was an acknowledgement of their opinion, but not necessarily an agreement. Little did they know, of course, that I never intended to have been messing with Rachel, and I certainly wouldn't ever aim to mess with her ever again. Little did they know that I loved her more than anything.

* * *

I went against my better judgement that afternoon and decided to pop down to the hospital to at least try and talk to Rachel.

I walked in and approached the lady at the desk, one whom I'd never seen before,

"Excuse me," I said politely, and the nurse looked up, "I was wondering if you could tell me where a 'Rachel Berry' is?"

"Family?" The nurse queried suspiciously,

"Oh, I'm her cousin." I lied smoothly, thankful for Rachel and her mini acting lessons,

"Of course." She replied, looking down at her computer, "Look's like she has been moved from the ICU to the Children's ward. She's on the floor two above us, the signs will direct you, and room," She clicked through a couple of things, "2.4-CH." She confirmed,

"Thank you, ma'am." I thanked her politely, and ran towards the stairs,

When I approached the ward where Rachel was staying, I saw the Berry's conversing in a corner. I leaned against a wall as casually as I could, trying not to look suspicious as I hid from their view. After all, LeRoy pretty much banned me from seeing his daughter. Ha, like that was going to stop me.

My feet really started to hurt after a while. The Berry's had since disappeared into Rachel's room, so I didn't have to hide, but I still couldn't go and see Rachel.

After forty minutes of waiting, and pacing, Rachel's dads exited the room and headed straight towards where I was hiding. I quickly ducked into the disabled bathroom and waited quietly, listening as their voices and footsteps slowly faded into the distance. I assumed they were going to go and get something to eat, leaving me with what I guessed would be about 10-20 minutes, minimum.

I opened the door and cautiously looked around to see if anybody was there. My luck was improving, it seemed, as the coast from the disabled bathroom to Rachel's room. I walked up to the door quickly, not even bothering to knock on my way in.

Rachel was awake, thankfully, currently sitting up in bed and watching the TV,

"Did you forget something?" She called out as she heard the door close,

"No, but you did," I replied, sitting in the armchair next to her bed,

"I am fully aware of that, Quinn. What are you doing here? I thought my dads warned you to stay away."

"They did, but this is really important," I told her, smiling fondly at her.

She looked really cute, which might be a weird thing to say. But with no makeup, her hair in a messy bun, she just looked,  _cute._  The gash on her neck was covered with a dressing, and she had a few other cuts and bruises on her face and body, but she still looked beautiful. She always did.

"Stop looking at me like that," Rachel ordered, and I snapped back to attention,

"Right, okay, do you know how long I have 'till your fathers come back?" I queried,

"They'll be gone for an hour, max," She informed me tersely, "But don't think for a second that I won't call security on you." She threatened,

I held my hands out in defence, "Hey, hey, I'm not here to hurt you. You know I would never do that."

Rachel scoffed at that, "I don't know, that that's a thing that I know." She said stubbornly, crossing her arms,

I giggled at her behaviour, she was so,  _her_ , which was reassuring, it's not like I was dealing with a whole new person,

"Look, Rachel, we have been dating for four months. Our anniversary is October the 19th, that was our first date. We mutually agreed not to tell anyone about our relationship, and not to dob you in it or anything, but it was  _mostly_  your idea." I informed her gently,

Rachel scoffed again, "I'm not gay, Quinn. I'm into guys! Like, hello? Finn, Puck, Jessie? Pretty sure I'm straight."

I quirked an eyebrow at her,

"Not that there's anything wrong with that." She added hastily, "And since when were  _you_  into girls Fabray?" She interrogated,

"Since you," I answered honestly,

Rachel blushed, probably out of embarrassment more than anything else, and she shook her head adamantly, "I don't know what you're playing at, but I don't believe you." She argued,

I groaned, "Okay, look. You may not believe me, but trust me when I say, that I  _will_  make you believe me. Even if you never get your memories back, we," I gestured between the two of us, "Are endgame. I will never, as long as I'm still breathing, ever, stop fighting for you." I swore,

Rachel looked lost, "We don't even like each other." She insisted, "I don't like using the word hate, but I'm pretty sure this isn't far off."

I nodded in acknowledgement of the statement, "I stand by what I said. I have to go before your dads get back, but you will be seeing me very soon." I promised, turning on my heel and walking out of the room,

I wiped a couple of tears from my cheeks and ducked around a corner just as Mr and Mr Berry were stepping out of the elevator, that was close.

I started devising a plan in my head, about how to win Rachel back. I had a list, I was checking it twice, and I would get Rachel Berry to fall in love with me again. I loved her too much to not fight for what we had.

* * *

**Rachel's POV** _(that morning)_

When I was having breakfast, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I called out,

The door swung open and I could see Noah and Tina walk in the door. I had to admit, they seemed like an odd pair, I wasn't sure when they had become friends, but I was certain I was soon to find out.

"Hello." I greeted politely,

"Hey, Princess." Noah greeted, "Hey, Rach." Tina replied,

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked curiously, moving to sit cross-legged on the bed,

"Look, Puck and I know that you have lost a lot of time, so we thought we would catch you up on some of what has happened since you lost your memory, the last thing you remember was Taylor Week, right? Middle of your Sophomore year?"

I nodded in confirmation,

Noah whistled, "Yeah, there's only so much your dads can catch you up on,"

"Okay, well, go ahead, I guess," I invited, "But why you guys? Why not, I don't know, Mercedes or Kurt?" I queried,

Noah and Tina shared a look that I couldn't decipher,

"Well, we're actually best friends, Rachel," Tina told me,

"Oh," I said, not really sure how to respond, "How?" I queried,

"We became friends at the end of 2010. Around the middle of Junior year. How? I don't even know really. We used to clash, but you kind of changed a bit towards the end of 2010, and we just clicked, a bit more. We started hanging out more and before you knew it we were best friends." She shrugged,

I nodded, taking in the new information,

"We also became really close in the middle of Junior year," He hesitated for a moment,

"We're not… dating are we?" I asked hesitantly,

Noah burst into loud laughter, way louder than it should have been, "You? And… me? Dating!" He gasped out, doubled over laughing,

"What's so funny about that?" I asked, crossing my arms,

"Shit, you won't know." He mumbled under his breath, so quietly I wondered if I had misheard, "Uh, nothing really. It's just, I uh…" He trailed off,

"Right, well, whatever. So, I'm not dating anyone?"

"Nope," Tina answered easily, "You just, haven't really been focused on guys recently," She shrugged,

Noah sniggered at that comment,

I looked at him with an eyebrow raised and my arms crossed,

"Never mind." He muttered,

"Right. So, catch me up on some of my life, you'll have to be quick, you have school soon." I reminded them,

They laughed at that comment, and we spent the next twenty minutes going over some stuff that had happened with the Glee club in the time I had lost.

Just before they left, I asked them a question that had been bothering me, "What was that whole thing with Quinn? Are we actually friends now?"

Tina and Noah looked at each other before bursting into laughter, when they calmed down, Tina spoke up, "No way. Look, I don't know what kind of trick Quinn was trying to play, but you guys  _hate_  each other. More than of our Glee club sessions have ended up with you hitting Quinn or vice versa." She explained,

"Good. Could you guys maybe get her to back off then?" I asked them,

"Yeah, Tina and I were already planning on talking to each other. So were a few others from Glee club too," Noah confirmed,

"Right, thanks." I said, "I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, already feeling very comfortable with the idea that these two were my best friends,

"Yeah, we can come 'round," Noah confirmed,

They said their goodbyes and headed to school, which they were probably late for by now, and left me to my own devices.

I was relieved when they confirmed that Quinn and I weren't friends, but there was still something off about the situation. I just couldn't figure out what.

* * *

_(Later That Day) Still Rachel's POV_

Quinn walked out of the room without looking back, and I stared after her. That small speech had been pretty special, if she were Finn, I would not hesitate in taking him back. But, come on, this was Quinn Fabray we're talking about.

I was still completely and utterly convinced that this was some strange trick, or that maybe Quinn had also sustained some brain damage in the car crash, very much like myself.

All that being said, Quinn definitely wasn't the same person that I knew her as. It was weird because as if it was yesterday, I remember Quinn, but to me, it's like she did 2 years of maturing in a day. Last time I saw her, she was pregnant, and a very nasty person. Mainly to me though, because of the whole Finn thing. Which I always found ironic because she cheated on Finn and  _got pregnant_ , and it was after she did that, that Finn kissed me in the auditorium. And she was _still_  angry at me and Finn when really, she got her just desserts. According to Tina and Noah, Quinn was nicer than usual to most people towards the end of her pregnancy. All except me, whom she never really forgave for 'making Finn cheat'.

But, when I saw her now, she didn't just look different. She held herself differently too. As much as I hated to admit it, she was even prettier than she was two years ago. She was taller, slightly slimmer, with more prominent curves. Basically speaking, she had grown up. The personality, however, was what confused me. She seemed very mature and grounded. Which, admittedly was a nice change.

Her little speech, as much as I hated it, was performed meticulously, and I would have believed it if I wasn't still so hung up on the 2010 model Quinn. I did think, that there was something more to her story, but I just didn't believe that I was that 'more'. But, this Quinn also didn't seem like the type that would play a silly joke on me for no reason.

My phone buzzed from my little table, so I picked it up to see a message from Quinn,

_'Just a little taste of what's to come.'-TLC_

She had attached a photo of the two of us, standing in a house that I didn't recognise. The photo had obviously been taken without our knowledge, as we seemed to be standing next to each other, laughing happily.

I scoffed, and typed a quick message back to Quinn,

 _'Nice Photoshop. ;)'-_ Maria,

I turned the phone off and lay down in my bed, thinking of the whole situation. From my Sophomore year to the point where I'm in a car crash, with Quinn next to me, and she seems so focused on making me think we're dating. I sighed and closed my eyes to take a little nap as I now had a small headache. Probably from all of the thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this. I also post this story on fanfiction.net under the same username, fyi. Please comment!! I'll see you next chapter!


	5. Phase 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the chapter!-Lauren's Glee Stories

**Quinn's POV**

I don't know what I was expecting when I walked into school that day. But what I saw? Yeah, was not expecting that.

As I walked into the school, I was confronted with the image of my girlfriend, leaning up against her locker, understandably looking a bit worse for wear, but worst of all, flirting. Rachel was flirting with some kid I didn't recognise and it was killing me. The guy was tall, with blonde hair and what I'm pretty sure, are the hugest lips I've ever seen.

I watched the two of them for a minute, with something between longing and pure jealousy in my eyes. He was definitely flirting back; it wasn't like a one-sided thing. Deciding that I'd been gazing at the pair for enough time, I turned on my heel and headed down the corridor, failing to see the thoughtful look Artie had on his face.

I decided to head to Ms Pillsbury's office for decided, so I changed direction and walked until I reached her door, knocking on it softly,

"Hello," I greeted politely,

"Oh!" Miss Pillsbury exclaimed, seemingly surprised, "Hello, Quinn. What can I help you with?" She queried, motioning for me to sit down in the spot opposite her, "Will told me that you have been having a difficult time recently, is that what you want to talk about?"

I scoffed, "'Difficult time' is the understatement of the century," I replied sarcastically,

"Oh, well," She said, pulling out some pamphlets from her draw, "Here are a few that you may find useful, is there anything in particular…"

"What do you have on memory loss?" I interjected,

"Memory loss? Hmm," She thought, looking around her, "I don't believe I've been asked that before, I don't think I have a pamphlet for it… Are you having trouble remembering recent things, or are you forgetting things from your past, perhaps?" She questioned,

"Oh," I shook my head, "It's not me. A friend of mine has amnesia or something, they don't have any memory of the past, like, two years," I explained to her,

"Ok, well first things first, has your friend sought medical advice?"

I nodded, "Yeah. The problem is, they forgot something really important, and I'm the only one who knows about it."

"Well, have you tried talking to them?" Miss Pillsbury asked,

I scoffed again, "If only it were that easy. They don't trust me, at all. They think that I'm the same girl I was in sophomore year, but I changed! I really did, they know I did, they just don't remember…" I trailed off,

Miss Pillsbury hummed in acknowledgement and thought about the appropriate thing to say, "Well, all you can do is be patient, and maybe you could try to jog her memory a bit. I'm really not the best person to ask, unfortunately," She explained, waving her hands around apologetically,

I looked down, "Yeah," I agreed,

"Is this about Rachel, perchance?" She inquired softly,

I scoffed, "Not at all." I denied it, not even sure why,

She studied me for a second, before giving me a pamphlet titled,

' _How to Deal with a Broken Heart'_

It had a picture of a girl on it, and her heart had like, come out of her chest and was split in two, I pocketed it, just to be polite, I wasn't actually going to ever read it, definitely not,

"I'm not heartbroken." I scoffed,

"Well, you never know when a pamphlet like that might come handy." She informed me sagely,

"Thanks, Miss P," I thanked her honestly because, at the moment, she was the only one who seemed to have some semblance of what was actually going on at the moment. As naïve as she sometimes was, she could be perceptive when she chose to, kind of like Britt in a way,

"Glad I could help." She responded with a smile.

* * *

I walked out of Miss Pillsbury's office in an ever so slightly better mood, so I headed to Math class, which was one of my favourite classes because Rach was in it with me.

However, once I got into class I was once again, confronted with the sight of Rachel, smiling and happy, and flirting with that Trouty mouthed new guy.

I sat down next to Artie, and poked him on the shoulder,

"What the hell is going on with those two?" I queried,

Artie pushed his glasses up his nose before responding quietly, "I can't say I'm entirely sure. They've been flirting since I got here,"

My heart sank, I knew the look on Rachel's face all too well. It was the face of someone that was falling in love, or in love, and it was usually reserved for me.

I watched my girlfriend flirt shamelessly with this new kid all lesson, and trust me when I say, that I was completely over it.

When we walked out of class, they walked out together and I went up to Rachel to talk to her,

"Hey," I greeted when I reached the pair,

"Quinn." She responded tersely, "I'm not quite sure as to the reason why you are talking to me, nor can I say that I'm completely thrilled that you have chosen to do so. Get it over with,"

"I was just wondering how you are, you know, now that you're out of the hospital and all, I just thought I'd check up on you."

Rachel rubbed one hand over her face and responded tiredly, but with all her usual sass, "Look, Fabray, I don't know what you're up to, and I don't think I could ever figure it out. I'm fine, so now you know, you can leave." She instructed,

"Hey! No, maybe I could walk you to your next class?" I offered,

"Thank you so much for the offer," She started sarcastically, "But Sam here has already offered to escort me to my next class. I'm sure he is completely capable of doing so on his own, so, your  _services_ aren't required,"

"But, hey, just…" I tried to object, but they had already walked off,

The new kid, Sam, I think she called him, shot what genuinely seemed to be an apologetic glance over his shoulder at me. I smiled weakly in return, and couldn't help the one tear that trailed down my cheek. She was slipping away from me, faster with each passing minute. I couldn't help the feeling that I was losing her forever.

"Quinn?" Artie asked me hesitantly,

Not sure how much of that he had heard, I wiped under my eyes and turned swiftly to face him,

"Hmm?"

He rolled slightly closer to me, "Are you, okay?" He asked, seeming concerned, with maybe a touch of 'what the hell did I just witness' thrown in for luck,

"I'm fine. I'm just, having a bad week." I answered evasively,

Artie was obviously not fooled, but decided to go with it anyway, "Oh, well, if you need someone to talk to, you know where I am." He offered, the statement almost sounding like a question towards the end,

"Thanks, Artie, I'll see how things go," I replied graciously,

He nodded before rolling off down the crowded corridor,

"Q!" A voice boomed down the hallway, "Get your butt in my office, stat!" She yelled, before disappearing into her office,

I buried my face in my hands, really? Could this day actually get any worse?

I walked down the hallway towards Coach Sylvester's office very, very slowly, as if to delay the inevitable. I just knew, I just knew, that I was about to get my ass kicked.

"So, Q," Miss Sylvester started once I had walked into the room, "Take a seat," She instructed,

"Is there something wrong, Coach Sue?" I queried,

"Yes, Q, there is indeed something wrong." She said, sitting down in her seat, "Now, I'm pretty sure that the last contract you signed for me,"

"I never signed a contract for you…" I interjected,

"Of course you did, I have it right here," She said, pulling out the 'contract',

I looked the piece of paper over quickly, "This isn't even my signature…" I muttered, more to myself than to her,

"You can't prove that." Sue responded quickly, "As I was saying, in the contract  _you_  signed, one of the many conditions is that my Head Cheerio, cannot, I repeat  _cannot_ , cry in heavily populated areas. You, shedding a tear over God knows what, in the middle of a crowded hallway between classes, indefinitely violates that rule."

"I'm sorry, Coach, I've just had an off day, it won't happen again," I apologised,

"Be that as it may, you still violated a condition on your contract. I have two choices, I could kick you off of the Cheerio's," She paused suspensefully, "Or, maybe, you could tell me what got you so upset. Because we both know that you're not one to cry over spilt milk," She finished in a slightly softer tone,

I shook my head, "Really, it's nothing," I insisted,

Coach Sylvester sighed, "Oh, Q. You know, you remind me of a young Sue Sylvester, without my bone structure of course. There's one thing, that you beat a young, and probably old, Sue Sylvester at, emotion. I think you get that from Weepy the Vest Clown, he loves a good cry doesn't he? Anyway, I was watching footage from Irma's office, and I heard your intriguing conversation with the red-head."

"You have camer…? No, I really can't say I'm surprised."

She looked at me pointedly, "Is it about the car crash in any way?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, "Maybe…" I answered evasively,

"Is it about the midget?" She prodded,

"Don't call her that," I hissed at her,

Coach Sue just raised an eyebrow, "So, it is about Berry then,"

I didn't answer her, so I guess she took my silence as an answer, "It's funny because I haven't seen you being all 'buddy-buddy' with Berry around the school, what changed?"

"I fell in love with her?" I answered honestly, but unsurely,

"I don't know, did you?" She replied,

"I fell in love with her," I answered, much more surely than before,

"I'm afraid there are some serious gaps in my timeline here. You hate each other, you fell in love with her, and she still doesn't like you all that much. Am I missing something?" She queried, leaning forward,

I sighed and leant back in my chair, "We've been dating since October last year," I admitted, "We kept it a secret, neither of us really wanted to find out what would happen if we told people. We even played up our usual little scuffles a bit. The day of the accident was the day that we were planning on telling people, but after the crash, Rachel lost all of her memories since sometime in Sophomore year."

"So she's still convinced she hates you," Coach concluded,

"Right." I replied, "So, she hates me, I love her, she actually loves me back but doesn't remember, it's a shit storm."

Sue leaned back and crossed her arms, "I agree with your sentiment. You have to fix it. I can't have a despondent, weepy Head Cheerio wandering around the halls of this school, it would be bad for my rep."

I chuckled slightly at that. Coach Sue liked to make people think she was so tough, but she really could be fiercely loyal to select people.

"What's one thing that Berry has always wanted?" Coach Sylvester mused,

"Uh, fame?" I guessed, knowing that being famous on Broadway was at the top of Rachel's goals,

"Close, Q, very close. Think small scale."

I pondered that for a moment, "Popularity?" I answered unsurely,

"Exactamundo. You are going to help give Rachel something she has always wanted." Sue declared, pointing at me,

"How do I make Rachel popular? I mean, I love her, so much, but I'm no fairy god-mother. This school is full of narrow-minded jerks that thrive on the social hierarchy. The only people that can make it in this school are the Jocks and the Cheerios."

She just stared back at me,

I stared back for a minute before the idea finally hit me, "You would make Rachel a Cheerio?" I spluttered, leaning forward in my seat,

"Well, that girl from the middle of the pyramid broke her ankle during practice last week and I am yet to replace her. You know as much as I do, that Berry is talented. She picks up choreography faster than I can say man-hands. What do you say Q?" She asked, pulling out a slim box from behind her, "We get her in the Cheerios, straight to the top of the pyramid, well, below yourself, Sandbags and Tweedle Dum." She shrugged, holding the box out to me,

I stared at it for a minute, this could definitely work in my favour. First of all, it was a nice thing to do for Rach, it showed that I cared. She had often talked about how she yearned to be popular or to be a Cheerio, if even for a day. I'm pretty sure that Senior Rachel and Sophomore Rachel had that in common. Also, it would give me an opportunity to talk to and see her more often. It's not like anyone could refuse a direct invitation to join the Cheerios anyway. I was pretty convinced that doing that got you expelled.

I nodded and took the box from Coach Sue. The worst this could achieve, was still better than the case as it was now.

"You know what to do, Q," Coach Sylvester said with a nod of her head,

Sensing my dismissal, I nodded back at her and walked out of her office, nervous about what Rachel might say about this, but also that kind of nervous excitement you get because I really hoped I would get a positive reaction. This could very well be the 'in' I was looking for with Rach.

* * *

I walked up to Rachel after school, when she was looking in her locker, held out the box that Coach Sylvester had given me and cleared my throat.

She turned to face me, the smile dropping off her face when she saw who had come to talk to her, which hurt just a tiny bit,

"May I help you?" She queried in a bored tone,

I shuffled nervously on my feet slightly, and pushed the box towards her, encouraging her to take it from me, "It's not exactly roses," I joked, "But you might like it anyway."

She scoffed, "I don't need, nor do I want any charity from you." She replied,

"You might want this," I encouraged, nodding at the box as a sign for her to open it,

She huffed and moved to open the lid, pausing before asking, "It's not some glitter bomb or something is it?" She queried,

Well, that was only mildly insulting, "Just open it," I encouraged,

"Wha… but… how did you… wait a minute…" She stuttered once she saw the neatly pressed Cheerio uniform lying in the box, and a schedule for all of our practices,

"I'll see you in practice." I winked at her, before sashaying back down the corridor,

Phase one of my new and improved 'Get Rachel Back' campaign, complete. Now, for Phase 2.

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

I stood there in shock for a moment, just staring at the box Quinn had just presented me with. I rubbed my head tiredly, I'd been getting a lot of headaches recently, I'd have to mention it to my dads.

I couldn't even begin to comprehend the situation. Quinn had been acting the same way as she had since I woke up from my coma, which, in short, was just strange. Did she get me a spot on the Cheerios? Was this all her? I was very confused, which did absolutely nothing to help my headache. I popped a couple of headache tablets in my mouth and gulped them down with a bit of water.

This was my key, my opportunity to shine. I never thought I would be popular in high school, but this uniform? This could change that. I had always envied the Cheerios. I never wanted to become mean and bitchy, like Santana was, but just, the popularity. It was very appealing. I saw that my first practice was scheduled for tomorrow, so I figured I had a day to figure it out. Maybe make a Pros and Cons list or two.

I spent my whole drive home distracted. There were just, too many things going through my head. I couldn't sort through all of them. When I got to my bedroom I flopped down on my bed, staring at my cell phone, as if asking it what I should do.

Deciding that giving Quinn a call would be the gracious thing to do, I dialled 'TLC' on my phone, and waited for her to pick up,

_*Ring-Ring*_

_*Ring-Ring*_

_*Ri-*_

"Rachel? Are you okay? Why are you calling me? Are you hurt?" Came Quinn's alarmed voice on the other end of the line,

I chuckled slightly, "I'm perfectly well, thank you. I am merely calling to discuss the little  _present_  you gave me."

"You do like it, right?" Quinn asked unsurely, "Because you don't have to take it! I'm sure Coach Sue hasn't drawn up your contract yet…" She trailed off,

"I'm kind of confused, to be honest," I admitted,

"About what?" Quinn queried on the other end,

"Lots of things," I sighed, "The fact that the Quinn Fabray I know, would never, ever do something nice for me. The fact that you and the Quinn Fabray I know seem to be completely different people, and that you seem  _hell-bent_  on making me believe we were dating,"

I could hear her about to object so I quickly continued, "Which is neither here nor there, the more pressing issue, is the fact that you got me a spot on the Cheerios. How the hell did you manage that?" I exclaimed, throwing my hand up though she couldn't see it,

"I pulled a few strings here and there. Coach Sue was happy to oblige." She told me, and I could almost see her shrugging on the other end,

"She was… Okay, that's a topic for another time. I guess, I just wanted to thank you. Just because I'm still convinced you're orchestrating a mass Slushie attack or something equally as terrifying for me, doesn't mean that I can't be a good sport for now. So, thank you, Quinn," I finished softly,

"You're welcome." She replied back, just as softly,

"Why?" I felt the need to ask her,

"It's amazing what people can do for those they love." She responded simply, her voice quiet,

I couldn't help but scoff. Just because she had done  _one_  nice thing for me, doesn't mean that the notion of Quinn Fabray ever loving Rachel Berry was any less ridiculous to me,

Quinn sighed on the other end of the phone, "I meant what I told you in the hospital, Rach. I love you. I will do whatever it takes to prove that to you."

I stayed silent, really not sure how to respond to that, so she kept talking,

"Have a nice evening, Rach," She farewelled, hanging up the phone,

"Bye," I whispered after she hung up, feeling  _very_  confused after that conversation.

The next day at school, I was sitting with some members of the Glee club at lunch. Quinn had approached me a couple of times that day, but I had pushed her away in favour of talking to Sam. She was still being equally as frustrating. I was certain, that this was part of one big ploy to punish me for something or other. I mean, we  _hate_  each other. Right…? I still despise her for all that she has said, and all that she's put me through. I just wanted her to, get off my case, you know?

"Have you had any more problems with Quinn?" Noah asked from across the table,

"Not recently," I found myself answering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did ya like it?? Comment, and I'll see you next chapter! -Lauren's Glee Stories


	6. 10-19-11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!-Lauren's Glee Stories

**Quinn's POV**

It was the day of Rachel's first Cheerio's practice, and admittedly, I was a bit nervous. I didn't want Coach Sue to be too hard on her and scare her off because let's be real, Coach Sue is too hard on everyone. I also just really wanted Rachel to enjoy herself. She hadn't worn the uniform to school today, but I was pretty sure she  _did_  still want to come to practice.

I was pretty certain that the whole 'Cheerio' thing, would solve a lot of her problems with the bullying. All of the Cheerios were on a special 'No Slushie List', that Coach Sylvester had drawn up, and I made sure that she had added Rachel on to it. We still got Slushied occasionally, but you  _did not_  want to be the person, that Slushied one of Coach Sylvester's Cheerios. Like,  _at all._  Coach Sylvester also liked to keep a special eye out for her cheerleaders in the hallways, namely Santana, Britt and I, but she kept an eye on all of us. It was nice, she was actually one of the few teachers at McKinley that actually tried to do anything if you were getting bullied. Of course, sometimes she  _was_  the bully, but that's just Coach Sylvester for you.

I arrived at our practice a few minutes early, keeping my eyes peeled for Rachel. Once I saw her, I walked across the field to talk to her. And let me just say, she looked so,  _so_  gorgeous in that Cheerios uniform, like,  _so_  sexy.

"Hey," I greeted,

She rolled her eyes at me but still replied, "Hello Quinn."

Her reply was cold, but I was sensing some progress had been made,

"Are you excited about your first ever Cheerios practice?" I quizzed her,

She grinned broadly, almost as if she was forgetting that she was supposed to be mad at me, "Definitely! It was so nice to put on the Cheerio uniform. I literally got stared at my entire way here, and I haven't even worn it for school yet!" She exclaimed excitedly,

I chuckled, "Yeah, just you wait for tomorrow, people won't be able to stop staring at you." I told her with a smile,

She laughed for a minute, then stopped suddenly, unfortunately remembering that she doesn't actually like me all that much, "Thanks again for getting me on the team, Quinn." She said shortly, before heading towards where the rest of the cheerleaders were waiting on Coach Sue.

I watched her go, a little, no, probably a lot sad, that she still didn't seem to think I was genuine. But, in all fairness, the last thing I said to her, in her mind, before she woke up from the coma, was probably something horrible. Along the lines of, 'Boyfriend stealing whore' or something. I'm sorry okay?! I was upset and hormonal, which just made me doubly upset. I still got the feeling that I was starting to get through to her, so I nodded to myself in determination. Phase two was coming next, and Rachel would not be able to ignore this whole thing when it did.

* * *

The cheerio's practice went swimmingly. All of the cheerleaders were impressed with Rachel's skills, which meant that they were automatically kind to her. It was as if every snide remark she had ever received from any of them, didn't exist.

Rachel seemed happy, too. That was the definitely most important part. As I was watching her, she was sweaty and looked like she was about to collapse, but she had a huge smile on her face and was laughing along with some of the other Cheerios. I felt a tiny bit jealous, to be frank, of the fact that she seemed to so easily forget what these girls had done to here, but then again, I remembered that Sophomore me really took it to the next level.

"See something you like?" Santana joked from beside me,

"Hmm? Oh, I was just watching Berry. How did she get on the team again?" I tried to cover,

"Well,  _apparently_ , Coach Sue suddenly decided to allow her on the team. Just like that," She clicked to demonstrate her point,

"Weird."

"You bet your ass it's weird." She shot back, "But," she continued, "As much as I hate to admit it, she does have talent. She picked up the routine before us, and we've been learning it for a week."

I kind of calmed down at that comment. I knew Santana and Rachel weren't always the best of friends, but I have always wanted my best friend (besides Britt) and my girlfriend to get along. That comment just gave me a tiny hint of hope.

"She is, isn't she," I answered her,

Santana shook her head in (was that amusement?) and wandered off to go find Britt, who had disappeared from view.

After everybody had changed and showered (I totally did not spy on Rachel when she did), I went home to change into something a bit nicer, and waited until 9 o'clock that night, before asking my mom for a lift to Rachel's, so that I could go see her.

* * *

When I got to Rachel's house, after my mom had driven away, I went to the back of their house and looked in front of me.

Rachel's window was very conveniently placed in front of the biggest tree in their yard. With a little bit of effort, I managed to climb up the tree and in through Rach's window, without breaking any bones.

I looked around the room, taking in the scene in front of me. Rachel wasn't there at the moment, thank god, because I wanted to surprise her. I knew for a fact, that Rachel had a little box filled with photos of us plus, an entire folder on her computer. I smiled as I walked over to her bed, there was a little puppy toy, resting on top of her cushions. I remembered the day I got that for her, we went to a fair, and I won it at one of those shooting game things, where you have to knock down stuff. Of course, I gave it to her, and she got it a little collar engraved, 'Lucy'. She had told me, about how she told Kurt about me, under the guise that it was a 'Lucy' that went to a different school. So, Lucy, as much as I hated the name, had become a little codename. Just like 'TLC' and 'Maria'.

My eyes moved over to the bulletin board she has above her desk, she made it so that it wasn't completely obvious to other people, but I knew the reason that I was in every Glee club photo that happened to be on her board. And the movie ticket stubs from when we saw some cheesy (but awesome) romantic comedy down in Columbus? I mean, she could have gone with one of her dads, or a friend.

I heard some footsteps coming up the stairs, so I sat cross-legged against her headrest and chucked Lucy onto her desk, praying to all things Holy that it was Rachel, not LeRoy or Hiram.

The door swung open and Rachel came inside, not noticing me as she went straight to the other side of her room to look in her draws. I cleared my throat and Rachel shrieked loudly as she turned around, glaring at me,

"Sweetie? You alright up there?" Came Hiram's voice from downstairs,

"Yes, Daddy, I just thought I saw a spider, false alarm." She lied smoothly, to which I smiled gratefully at her,

"What the hell are you doing in here?" She hissed quietly, as she went to shut her door,

"Came to see you," I shrugged,

She picked up Lucy and held the toy to her chest, as if willing it to protect, "Well, don't." She said coldly,

"Look, I know you don't remember, and I understand that, but we  _are_  dating!" I told her,

"I would never be that desperate." She scoffed, fiddling with Lucy's collar,

"That dog, I got her for you." I pointed out, "Her name is Lucy,"

"You're lying," She replied,

"Oh yeah? Who got it for you then?" I queried,

"She was a gift from Tina," She lied smoothly,

I huffed and got out of her bed, going over to her bulletin board, "We went to see this movie together," I told her, pointing to the ticket stubs,

"Once again, I'm afraid to inform you, that you are wrong. I saw that movie with Tina," I raised an eyebrow at that, "Granted," She continued quickly, "I don't remember seeing it, but I know I went to see it with her," She finished weakly,

I raised an eyebrow at her again and she huffed, before sitting down in her desk chair, "Look, I don't know who got me Lucy, or who I saw that movie with. But why would I believe you? You're a bitch, who's never even liked me. For all I know, this is some, weird, sick joke." She told me, rubbing her head with her hands,

"Are you okay?" I asked concernedly,

"I'm fine, just a headache, it will go away." She explained,

I nodded unsurely, but continued with my train of thought, "Open your computer." I instructed,

She turned to her computer and typed in her password, but then turned back to face me after several goes, "I don't know the password." She admitted,

"It's 10-19-11," I smirked at her,

She quirked an eyebrow up at me but typed it in any way, she looked at me when it worked, "What's that?" She queried,

"I already told you, it's our anniversary. That's when we say we officially started dating."

"I'm certain you're wrong." She muttered under her breath, "Now what?" She asked, louder this time,

I slid her seat to the side and crouched down in front of the laptop, clicking on a couple of different folders, and pulling up one that solely contained pictures of us,

"Look," I told her, nodding towards the screen,

The current photo was one that had been taken at the lake, the same one where we had our first date. We found a nice old lady who was willing to take a photo of us. We kept it G rated though, as you know how Lima is. I'm sure the lady thought we were just close friends, with my arm around her waist and her arm around my shoulders.

"You could have PhotoShopped that." She protested, "And I don't know how long you were in my room, but you could have easily downloaded those pictures onto my computer,"

"Really?" I huffed in exasperation, scrolling through some of the pictures to a selfie that showed us kissing, taken by yours truly,

"Maybe you got JBI or one of the techy kids to Photoshop it."

"And risk gossip like that," I pointed to the picture, "Floating around the school, quicker than you can say Jew-fro? No way."

"I'm not gay!" She shrieked at me, then lowered her voice, remembering we're not alone in the house, "I'm not gay." She said, "For all I know, these pictures are fake, or you were blackmailing me. I would never,  _ever_  date someone like you, never the less a _woman._ " She hissed,

I scrolled to the next picture, which had us laughing together while we were skating at a rink down in Columbus, my mom had taken us, plus my sister, and we didn't know the photo had been taken until she showed us much later.

"Does that look like blackmail to you?" I asked her softly,

She clicked out of the picture and deleted the folder.

"I like Sam." She blurted out, "I really like him, Quinn."

I frowned, and sat back on the bed, "I meant what I said, Rach."

"What did you say?" She asked, confused,

"When I said I would fight for you, for us. I love you. So, you're going to be seeing a lot more of me." I told her,

"Can you just, go?" She requested, pointing to the window,

I walked up to her slowly, and kissed her on the cheek chastely, before sliding out of the window and trying desperately not to fall to my death.

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

"What on earth just happened?" I muttered to myself after Quinn had left,

I flumped down on my bed. I wasn't lying to Quinn, I did like Sam. I was kind of expecting him to ask me out any day now. After all, he had been flirting with me just as much as I had flirted with him.

Did Quinn really take me to see that movie? Did we really go Ice Skating together? Did we ever have the first date she talks about? The lake did look kind of familiar, but I certainly had never been there. I was just super confused at the minute. I got up out of bed, spending twenty minutes in the shower mulling over the new information I had been given. As much as I find it weird to say, it didn't look like blackmail. Not to say that I believe her in any way. I'm still convinced this is all part of some sick joke. But, I certainly looked happy in those pictures. For some reason I couldn't yet comprehend, I logged into my computer, went onto the Recycling Bin, and restored the photos I had earlier deleted.

As I went to bed that night, I threw Lucy onto my desk and tossed and turned for what seemed like forever, my headache making me unable to fall asleep.

I got out of bed, grabbed Lucy from my desk and got back into bed with her, pulling her close to me. I fell asleep shortly after.

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

Okay, I'm pretty sure that what I was standing in front of, could be called every person's worst nightmare. So, I had gotten to school, had a fairly normal day, really. I watched Rachel parade around in her uniform, getting all the same admiration, fear and respect that the Cheerios did. Then, I watched her go up to Sam and twirl around, showing him the uniform, he hugged her and then Rachel spent the next few minutes shamelessly flirting with him.

Then, Glee club came. Yeah, this was where my day went from, okay, to kinda shitty, to what the actual  _fuck_  is happening right now.

Mr Shuester walked in as usual,

"Right guys," He started, clapping his hands, "We have a new member joining our Glee club today!" He announced, "Please give a warm welcome to, Sam Evans!" He introduced, clapping his hands,

I refused to clap, nu-uh. Was everyone against me? Sam ran into the room, and stood in front of us,

"Hi everybody, I'm Sam." He introduced himself, "Sam I am, and I do not like green eggs and ham." He joked lamely,

"This guy has  _no_  game," Santana muttered from the back row, and I nodded my head in agreement.

Unfortunately, though, Rachel was gazing at him in what seemed to be complete adoration, which made my blood boil.

"So, I uh, prepared a number, for today, for someone, they know who they are," He introduced,

Oh no he wasn't! He was  _not_  about to serenade my girlfriend in front of me!

_Oh, her eyes, her eyes_

Son of a bitch.

 _Make the stars look like they're not shining_  
Her hair, her hair  
Falls perfectly without her trying  
She's so beautiful  
And I tell her every day.

I could begrudgingly admit that he had a pretty great singing voice, and I could see the rest of the Glee club agreed with me. They were all quiet, watching the performance carefully. And Rach was sitting in the front row, leaning forward in her seat excitedly. I struggled to hold back my tears but managed it. I felt eyes on me, so I turned to my left to see Artie looking at me concernedly. I nodded at him curtly before turning away. I could deal with that another time.

 _Yeah, I know, I know_  
When I compliment her she won't believe me  
And it's so, it's so  
Sad to think that she doesn't see what I see  
But every time she asks me, do I look okay  
I say

I rolled my eyes, was this guy still singing?

 _When I see your face_  
There is not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
Cause, girl, you're amazing  
Just the way you are, hey  
Her lips, her lips  
I could kiss them all day if she let me

'Don't you dare mister,' I thought to myself,

 _Her laugh, her laugh_  
She hates but I think it's so sexy  
She's so beautiful  
And I tell her every day  
Oh, you know, you know  
You know I'd never ask you to change  
If perfect's what you're searching for  
Then just stay the same  
So don't even bother asking if you look okay,  
You know I'll say

 _When I see your face_  
There is not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
Cause, girl, you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
The way you are  
The way you are  
Girl, you're amazing  
Just the way you are, yeah

When he finished the song, he turned to Rachel, "What d'ya say?" He asked her with a dopey grin that I'm pretty certain reached from ear to ear,

Rachel squealed slightly and walked up to give Sam a chaste kiss on the cheek. I'm pretty sure I whimpered when she did that. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded in agreement of what he said.

I grabbed my bag and ran out of the choir room, straight out of the school and I jogged down the road for a bit before slowing to a walk, tears streaming down my face. I walked all the way home, in the rain, feeling defeated, and dejected.

When I got home I threw myself on my bed and looked at my phone for the first time since I had left practice. There were plenty of calls from Santana, Britt and even one from Puck, along with many text messages.

' _Q? What the hell happened?'-Santana,_

' _Q…? Are u okay?'-Santana,_

' _R u a dolphin Quinny?'-Brittany,_

Well, that girl was surprisingly perceptive in her own way, I decided I wouldn't respond to that one,

' _Quinn! Why are u so upset?'-Santana,_

' _Are you home?'-Santana,_

' _Fabray! If u don't text me back, I swear I will go all Lima Heights on ur sorry ass. Once I find u.'-Santana,_

I panicked a bit at that last text, really not wanting S to come to my house to see me,

' _I'm fine.'_ -Quinn,

I typed it quickly and pressed send. Not even 5 seconds later my phone buzzed with a response.

' _No way, u do not get away that easy. I'm on 2 u Fabray.'-Santana_ ,

I could practically hear her scheming. Note to self, be careful around Britt and Tana.

I clicked on the photo app on my phone and scrolled through all of the pictures of me and Rach. I was feeling defeated, yes, but would I give up? Not likely. I just needed some help.


	7. Uh, What Phase is it Now??

**Quinn's POV**

It was official. My girlfriend had a boyfriend. I was in the middle of some sick, twisted love triangle that I had no desire to be in, and no power to get out of. Yep, my life was hell.

The worst part of it was that Sam seemed like a  _really_  nice guy. Like, if he wasn't trying to steal my girlfriend from me, I would have really liked the guy. He seemed genuine, and he seemed to treat Rach right. It was reassuring in a way, that she was with a nice guy. It meant I didn't have worry about her, while I was trying to get her back. It wasn't like she was with some douchebag jock that was going to pressure her to have sex with him or something. That being said, I was going to have to find some time in my schedule to go talk to this Sam guy. Make sure he didn't hurt my girl.

Before school, I headed to the choir room. I just felt like, getting out all my feelings, you know? I figured playing the guitar and singing about it would help. When I got there, it was empty, which I was very grateful for. So, I sat down and strummed the guitar a couple of times, finding it was horribly out of tune. I sighed and started to tune it. I heard some slight movement and looked up to find Artie rolling into the choir room.

I nodded at him and continued to tune the guitar. I was kind of waiting for Artie to say something, he knows I've been 'off' recently. But then I figured that he might be waiting for me to speak up. We sat there in silence for a few minutes,

"Do you still love Tina?" I blurted out, still looking down at the guitar,

"Yes." He answered fairly quickly, "Not only was she my first love, but she was my first kiss. Part of me will always love her. Probably in a similar way to how Finn will always have a special place in your heart." He explained,

"What if you forget you love someone?" I asked him quietly, fiddling with the strings on the guitar,

He rolled closer to me, "Are you sure you don't mean, what if someone forgets they love you?" He asked softly, "More specifically, are you telling me Rachel's forgotten that she loves you?"

I snapped my head up to look at him, "Do you believe me?" I asked him hopefully,

"Well, you haven't exactly told me, well, anything, but I might listen." He replied,

I put the guitar down, "Look, can this not leave this room?" I requested,

"Of course, you have my word."

"We were together. We've been dating since October. We were going to tell people,"

"But then the accident," Artie filled in knowingly,

"Exactly. Now all she sees is the pregnant, bitchy Sophomore Quinn. Not the one that loves her, that she loves."

"Not to be rude or anything, but since when were you…" He trailed off,

"What? Gay?" I clarified,

"Yeah…" He said guiltily,

"I don't really know," I shrugged, "Since Rachel, I guess. Or since always, maybe. I might have just been trying to deny it for years, I can't really say for sure. Me and Rachel, we didn't plan it. I never expected to fall in with her, it honestly just happened." I shrugged again,

"Well, they do say you can't choose who you fall in love with." Artie agreed,

"Yeah, and now I'm stuck in the love triangle from hell." I groaned, putting my face in my hands,

"Sam isn't that bad," Artie tried to defend,

"Like that makes it any less hellish? I know he's a nice guy, but I have to hate him. On principle!" I defended,

Artie chuckled, "I kind of understand that I guess. I know Mike treats Tina right and all, but a small part of me is very jealous of the fact that Tina left me for him."

I laughed humourlessly, completely getting the feeling,

"Have you talked to Rachel yet?" Artie queried,

I scoffed, "Only a dozen times. She won't believe anything I say. Thinks I'm tricking her or something."

"Can you really blame her?" He asked hesitantly,

I sighed, "I guess I made my bed and what not… Do you think she'll ever get her memories back?" I asked him,

Artie looked around a little nervously, "Can I be blunt?" He requested,

I nodded,

"I think the likelihood that Rachel will get her memories back is about the same as mine is for walking again."

I winced, "Okay, sheesh."

He smiled at me apologetically and shifted his wheelchair ever so slightly closer,

"I need to take a different approach then don't I?" I asked him, semi-rhetorically,

"Why don't I help you to perform a number in Glee club?"

"Maybe," I mused, "You could dedicate it to Tina and I could dedicate it to Rach," I suggested,

"I know just the song." Artie declared,

I smiled at him. What Phase was this in my 'Get Rachel to remember me, or worst case scenario make her fall in love with me again' plan? I think I was up to 3. 'Phase 3, in progress.' I thought to myself as Artie grabbed some sheet music and his guitar.

* * *

"Alright," Mr Schue announced as he arrived in Glee club that afternoon, "This week's assignment…"

"Mr Schue?" I interrupted, raising my hand,

"Yes, Quinn?" He raised an eyebrow,

"Artie and I have a number we would like to perform," I informed him,

He nodded, so I stood up, and gave the sheet music to Brad, while Artie grabbed his guitar,

I just stood speechless, in front of the group, suddenly not sure this was a great idea, and considering backing down, but Artie started speaking, sealing my fate,

"We would both like to dedicate this number to special people in our lives. They both know who they are," he introduced simply,

I nodded at him, and then nodded for Brad to start playing, I waited for a few bars, then started singing,

 _When I look into your eyes_  
It's like watching the night sky  
Or a beautiful sunrise  
Well, there's so much they hold

Artie's voice joined mine for the next part,

 _And just like them old stars_  
I see that you've come so far  
To be right where you are  
How old is your soul?

 _Well, I won't give up on us_  
Even if the skies get rough  
I'm giving you all my love  
I'm still looking up

I let Artie sing the next bit on his own, his gaze set firmly on Tina,

 _And when you're needing your space_  
To do some navigating  
I'll be here patiently waiting  
To see what you find

Our voices blended together once more, working better together than one might think,

 _'Cause even the stars they burn_  
Some even fall to the earth  
We've got a lot to learn  
God knows we're worth it  
No, I won't give up

The tempo sped up for the next part, making it slightly harder to sing along to, but still manageable.

 _I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily_  
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make  
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use  
The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake  
And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend  
For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn  
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in  
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am

Artie sang on his own once more,

 _I won't give up on us_  
Even if the skies get rough  
I'm giving you all my love  
I'm still looking up, I'm still looking up.

He continued to sing, and I backed him up singing the chorus part,

 _Well, I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)_  
God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)  
We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)  
God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)

He let me finish the song. I sang the last bit quietly, focusing all my energy on putting my emotion into the song, and singing it directly to Rachel, who was shuffling awkwardly in her seat.

 _I won't give up on us_  
Even if the skies get rough  
I'm giving you all my love  
I'm still looking up

I finished the song looking down at my feet, not wanting to see the group's reaction to it.

They burst into a slightly hesitant, but still enthusiastic applause,

I could see that Tina was looking slightly embarrassed, looking down in her lap, and Rachel was acting very similarly.

"Wow, that was excellent guys. Well done." Mr Schue congratulated, clapping his hands once more,

I sat down in a chair and tried to avoid people's eyes for the rest of the session.

Afterwards, I tried to go to talk to Rachel, but I was interrupted by Finn, which gave her the opportunity to slip out of the Choir room,

"Yes?" I huffed impatiently,

"Look, Quinn, I can't say I'm not flattered and all, but I just don't like you that way. I'm still cut up about what happened with Rachel." He admitted, unknowingly making a complete fool of himself, in more ways than one,

I laughed, "That wasn't for you." I told him pointedly,

"You'll always have a special place in my heart, but it would do you good to move on. Find someone else." He told me with a goofy smile, completely ignoring my comment,

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the classroom, completely not in the mood to argue with the Frankenteen.

I was about to walk out of the choir room when I bumped into Tina, "Oh, sorry," I apologised as I tried to move past her,

"Nuh-uh, you're not running away," Tina told me, grabbing my arm and pulling me back into the choir room.

"Ow," I said, rubbing my arm and glaring pointedly at Tina,

"J'accuse!" She exclaimed,

"I beg your pardon?" I replied,

"You're in love with my best friend." She said accusingly,

"Took you long enough," I muttered, more to myself than her,

"Seriously, what the actual fuck did I just witness? What's going on? How long have you liked her?" She fired the questions one after another,

"Okay, sheesh, slow down, Queen T," I told her, sitting down in one of the chairs,

"You just witnessed me singing a song to Rachel, I thought we'd established that much. What's going on, is that I love her and am trying to get her to remember the fact that we have been dating since October, and I've loved her, well, since before October last year." I answered her questions one by one,

"Holy shit. You've been dating since October? Since when was Rachel even gay?" She asked, sounding a little hurt,

"Nobody knew!" I rushed to reassure her, spinning the truth ever so slightly, "We didn't tell anyone because we just weren't ready for all the crap we'd get at school." I explained,

"I need to sit down." Tina declared, thankfully making it to a chair before passing out, "So, you've been dating for, what 4-5 months?"

I nodded, "We were going to tell people too. The day of the accident was the day we were supposed to tell Rachel's dads, and my mom, though she already kind of knew. Then, the next day, we were supposed to tell all of Glee club."

Tina nodded slowly, still trying to process the information, "But, all of those fights? I'm pretty sure you hit each other, like, more than once,"

"Fake. A little bit of acting and a stage slap can get you very far in high school."

"Apparently." She said, still sounding confused,

"Look, I know it's a lot to take in. But we really do love each other." I assured her,

"I'm sorry." Tina apologised quickly,

I had to do a bit of a double take with that, confused with the change of topic, "Sorry about…?"

"The Glee club has been pretty harsh on you, for a long time. And since Rach and I became friends I was a big part of that." She explained, "I just wanted to protect my best friend."

"It's okay. I gave you no reason to trust me." I shrugged it off,

"Why should I believe you now?" She interrogated,

"Do you think I'm telling the truth?" I asked her,

She studied me very carefully for a good few seconds, "Yes." She finally answered with a sigh, "My gut tells me that I should believe you."

"Thank you," I said gratefully,

"So, Rachel currently hates you?" She clarified,

"Thanks for rubbing salt in the wound," I grumbled,

"Let me try and help, then."

"How could  _you_  help me?" I queried,

"I'm her best friend. She trusts me, unlike you." She said pointedly, "Did she have a 'big gay freak-out'? Or did she always know and kind of just went with it?" She asked me,

I chuckled, "She always described it as a short-lived 'Big Gay Freak-out'. It happened in the middle of Junior year, around October-November I think."

"Hmmm," Tina mused, "Well, I don't think anybody can straight up  _tell_  Rachel that she's gay. I mean, she figured it on her own the first time, we should probably just let that happen naturally, you know?"

I nodded my head, "I get what you mean," I said thoughtfully, "She does need to be the person to figure  _that_  out."

Tina shifted in her seat, "That doesn't mean that you can't still try to jog her memories, or win her back…" She pondered, "Do you have any photos of the two of you?" she questioned,

"Yeah, heaps," I told her, pulling out my phone and pulling up the photo from the ice-skating rink, it really was a personal favourite of mine,

Tina took the phone from me and smiled fondly at the picture, "She sure does look happy…" She commented, "Ok. This isn't fair to Rachel. We need to get her to remember, or, you need to work some magic and make her fall in love with you all over again."

"Is there another option?" I asked her weakly,

She hit my arm in response, "How did she fall in love with you the first time?"

"She just… did…. I guess. I didn't do anything special. When she first started liking me, we weren't friends, still fighting all the time and whatnot. But then, somehow, we became friends, and things progressed from there."

"Let's go to the mall. You can pick up a little 'I'm thinking of you' gift." She instructed.

* * *

And  _that_  was how I ended up traipsing around the mall with Artie and Tina an hour and a half later. After I told her that Artie knew, she decided we could invite him along. Personally, it just sounds like a great excuse for her to hang out with him, but I liked having the company regardless. My phone buzzed, alerting me to a text, so I pulled it out of my pocket to read the message,

_'Since when were **you**  friends with Wheels and Tina Cohen-Loser?'-Santana,_

I stopped walking and looked up from my phone, looking all around me. I spied Santana leaning up against a pillar, unaware I could see her,

 _'Come off it Tana, you know as much as I do that you love everybody in Glee club.'_ -Quinn,

Santana blushed, and scowled at her phone,

_'You tell anyone and I swear to God I'll go all Lima Heights on your ass.'-Santana,_

_'Yeah, yeah._ '-Quinn

I rolled my eyes at her antiques and put my phone back in my pocket. I looked up to see Artie and Tina both paused in front of me, staring at me expectantly,

"Oh, it was just Santana," I explained,

"Oh, okay, well, which store should we go in next?" Tina asked,

We still hadn't found anything that would make the perfect present for Rachel, and we had been shopping for what seemed like  _ages_.

"Anybody feel like ice-cream? On me?" I offered,

Tina and Artie smiled at each other and looked back at me,

"What  _have_  we been missing out on these past years Miss Fabray?" Artie joked,

"Oh,  _so_  much." I joked back with a huge smile on my face,

I found it funny, as we walked with each other through the mall, that there was no weird tension between us. Not between myself and Tina or Artie, and not with the two of them either. It's like that song never happened, and like everything that had gone down with us in the past years had never even happened. It had all just been, swept under the rug. I appreciated that, to be honest. And I'm pretty sure that Artie and Tina did too. I saw the beginnings of a beautiful friendship between us.

Two hours later, we had bought and eaten our ice-cream and bought Rachel a small series of gifts. I decided, with the help of Tina and Artie, to start off with the small gifts, chocolate and flowers etc. Then, we moved to the bigger stuff, perfume, jewellery and I had even bought her a scarf. The other stuff was kind of going to be a last resource, but it was all going to end up as Rachel's sooner or later.

I knew that getting Rachel gifts, might have seemed like a bit of a superficial way to win her back, but come on. Remember that Rachel once gave Finn a Christmas list, that had 10 gifts (which were all super expensive) and instructed him to choose three. I mean, she has matured slightly since then, but I had no doubts that she would eventually have to give in and at least say thank you for any of the gifts. Plus, I knew my girlfriend, she would definitely like the things that I got for her.

* * *

I got to school early the next day to put a box of chocolates and some flowers into Rachel's locker. Then, I waited around the corner to see her reaction. Unfortunately, she took a while to show up, but once she did, I ducked back around the corner to wait for her to see them.

I was disappointed, however, because Rachel had not only turned up with Sam but seemed less than impressed when she opened her locker. She looked around her, obviously trying to see if I was still around, so I hid further behind the wall, sticking my head out ever so slightly. She took the flowers, and gave them to Becky, who was walking past. Becky was thrilled with the new development, me, not so much. Then, and what she did next really upset me, she gave the box of chocolates to Sam. She even acted like they were meant for  _him_! I mean,  _come on_ , that's  _kind of_  insulting. Just a  _little bit._

She turned around and saw me hiding behind the wall, sending a little glare my way. I huffed to myself and walked off down the corridor. The chocolates and flowers were a bust, so it was time for the  _next_  phase of my plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it and I'll see you next chapter!


	8. Duets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Did you like the last chapter? Do you think Rachel is finally going to cut Quinn some slack? I'm thinking of doing a video trailer for the stories, do you guys think that it would be a good idea? Let me know and review if you enjoy! –Lauren's Glee Stories

**Quinn's POV**

I walked into the choir room that afternoon, receiving slightly fewer glares than usual. It was nice to know that I had a couple of people in on what was happening. I still received unfriendly glances from Kurt, Mercedes, Finn, Rachel (that hurt the most) and kind of Sam (which I was confused about). Whilst I knew that San and Britt were on my side, they definitely still thought I should back off of the whole Rachel thing. But, Artie and Tina knew, and that was enough for me, for the time being. Also, Miss Sylvester was a decent ally. She called me into her office more often recently, just to check up on the situation. She always offered to 'convince' Rachel, but I wanted my girlfriend in one piece for when she decided to believe me, or love me. I wasn't entirely convinced that Coach Sylvester's methods could guarantee that.

"Alright, guys!" Mr Schue announced as he marched into the choir room, "Regionals is coming up, and we're up against, arguably, our toughest competition. Vocal Adrenaline. In order to prepare you guys, I'm giving you yet another duets assignment. I still believe that some of you in this room, aren't working together well enough. We really need a cohesive team when we get up on that stage, otherwise, we don't stand a chance. So, when I call out your names, move to sit with your partner."

Everybody waited on the edge of their seats as Mr Schue called out our names, "Rachel, you're with Quinn." He announced, gesturing for Rach to move seats.

"Aww, hell to the no!" Mercedes objected, "Are you crazy Mr Schue? They'll eat each other alive!"

There were nods of agreement from many of the team members, and I looked to Rachel to see Sam whispering in her ear. She pressed her hands against her forehead, but nodded to him,

"As much as I appreciate the concern of my fellow teammates," Rachel said loudly, "I strongly believe that Quinn and I have enough maturity in order to complete this assignment successfully, whilst preparing a number of a very high standard." She told them, moving to sit with me,

"Are you sure Rachel?" Kurt asked her softly,

"I appreciate the concern," She repeated, "But I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like she would beat up someone with a head injury," She reasoned,

"I wouldn't ever beat you up," I grumbled under my breath,

"What did you just say?" Kurt interrogated,

"I said I'm not going to frickin' beat her up!" I exclaimed defensively,

There were a few scoffs from my teammates, and I received sympathetic glances from Tina and Artie. San and Britt were just looking down into their laps, trying to avoid the confrontation,

"Let's just give her the benefit of the doubt?" Tina suggested,

Kurt scoffed again but sat back in his chair as Mr Schue read out the rest of the duets.

We spent the rest of Glee club sifting through sheet music individually, trying to get ideas for the duet assignment.

"Oh, I forgot to mention you guys, this is a competition!" Mr Schuester announced suddenly,

The team stopped suddenly, "Is there a prize?" Rachel queried curiously,

"Dinner for two, on me… at BreadstiX!" He declared,

Everybody burst into a cheerful applause,

"Oh, we have gots to win this!" Santana declared to Mike, who was her partner for the duet,

I turned to look at Rachel excitedly, but she was avoiding my eyes, looking down with a hand on her head,

"Are you alright Rach?" I whispered concernedly, moving closer towards her,

"I'm fine," She said, backing away from me, "Just a headache," She explained weakly,

"No, you're not…" I responded carefully, "I have some headache tablets in my bag?" I offered her,

She nodded at me feebly, so I went to my bag to grab some tablets and my bottle of water. I offered the tablets to her first, and she glanced questionably at the bottle of water,

"It's not going to kill you," I pointed out with a smile,

"But I could get sick!" She protested,

"We've shared worse things before," I smirked,

"Right," She said, taking the water bottle from me and swallowing down the tablets,

"Thank you," She whispered gratefully,

I turned around to see Artie and Tina watching us, identical smiles on their faces, but Rachel didn't notice, which I figured was best for the time being,

"So… when do you want to practice?" I asked Rachel,

"Maybe we can do it tomorrow? After Cheerio's practice?" She replied,

"Sure, your house?" I clarified,

"Sure," She replied with a smile,

The next time I turned around, I saw that most of the room had been watching our conversation. I wasn't sure how much, or what, they had heard, but they were all (bar Tina and Artie) watching us as if a bomb was about to go off. I just stared back at them, and they all looked away semi-guiltily. Still, Rachel wasn't really paying attention, instead, she was looking through a book with some sheet music in it. I smiled fondly at her and turned back to the sheet music in front of me. This was an in, I just had to use it carefully.

* * *

The next day, I saw Rachel was suffering from her headaches more than she let on. It got me kind of nervous about whether she should do Cheerio's, but she insisted that her doctor said it was fine, so I let the matter lie. It's funny, Rachel was reminding me a bit of the old me recently. Sometimes, she talked to me freely, then midway through, she stopped. As if in the middle of the conversation, she realised she wasn't meant to like me. After that point in the conversation, she closed off and went all cold. To be honest, I was starting to think that all of the problems in our friendship/relationship had been my fault. Because now that I was being nice to Rachel, she forgot she was angry at me, you know? I tried not to dwell on that though, it wouldn't be much use to anyone.

After Cheerio's practice, I approached Rachel in the locker room,

"Ready to go?" I asked her with a smile,

"Yep, are you following my car or coming with me?" She questioned,

"Oh, my car privileges were taken from me after…" I trailed off at the end of the sentence,

"Well, guess that means I'm stuck with you then!" She joked light-heartedly, seemingly trying to clear the awkwardness, which I was grateful for,

The drive to Rach's was quiet, which I was kind of okay with. It wasn't a particularly awkward silence, just, neither of us knew what to say. The silence kind of dug the knife into my heart just that little bit more though, because Rachel always had something to say to me. It was one of the things I loved about her, but right now, she couldn't think of what to say. It was very uncharacteristic of her.

Once we got inside her house, I looked around cautiously, "Your dads aren't here, right…?" I asked carefully,

She laughed at me, so I smiled in relief, "No, you'll be fine, for now anyway. They get back at 8 tonight, so you have until then to murder me."

The smile dropped off my face, and I looked down at my feet, disappointed that she still saw me as the bully from two years ago, not as the person she had come to love,

"Can you really blame me, Quinn?" She asked, laughing humourlessly,

"Let's practice, shall we?" I replied, ignoring her question,

Yes, I was still hopelessly in love with her, and yes, I was still on some crazy, but well worthwhile, quest to win her back, but I was only human. Sometimes, little things like that can get you down,

"Sure," She answered, and headed upstairs to her bedroom, me following closely behind,

"So," I started, flumping down on her bed,

"So," She replied, sitting next to me,

"We need to start with a song," I pointed out obviously, and probably unnecessarily,

"Right," Rachel grabbed out her iPod and started scrolling through a list of songs,

"Ooooh!" She said excitedly, "Listen to this one," She told me, pressing play on her iPod. I recognised the song immediately, so sang along with it,

**Me:**

I wish I could tie you up in my shoes

Make you feel unpretty, too

I was told I was beautiful

But what does that mean to you?

Look into the mirror, who's inside there?

The one with the long hair

Same old me again today, hey

Rachel was looking at me confusedly, but she stepped in to sing her part of the duet,

**Rach:**

My outsides are cool, my insides are blue

Every time I think I'm through it's because of you

I've tried different ways but it's all the same

At the end of the day I have myself to blame

I'm just tripping

I smiled broadly at her and sang with her,

**Rachel and I:**

You can buy your hair if it won't grow

**Me:**

You can fix your nose if he says so  **(Me: Aahh)**

**Me and Rach:**

You can buy all the make up that M.A.C. can make

But if, you can't look inside you

**Me:**

Find out who am I to (Me: Aahh)

**Rach and I:**

Be in a position to make me feel so

**Rach:**

Damn un-pretty

**Me:**

I feel pretty

**Rach:**

Oh, so pretty

**Me (and Rach):**

I feel (pretty and witty and bright)

**Rach (with me):**

Never insecure until I met you

Now I'm being stupid

I used to be so cute to me

(Just a little bit skinny)

**Me (with Rach):**

Why do I look to all these things?

(To keep you happy)

**Rach:**

Maybe get rid of you

And then I'll get back to me, hey

**Me:**

My outsides look cool, my insides are blue

Every time I think I'm through it's because of you

**Rach:**

I've tried different ways but it's all the same

At the end of the day I have myself to blame

Keep on tripping

**Me and Rach:**

You can buy your hair if it won't grow

**Me:**

You can fix your nose if he says so  **(Rach: Aahh)**

**Rach and I:**

You can buy all the make up that M.A.C. can make

But if you can't look inside you

**Me:**

Find out who am I to  **(Rach: Aahh)**

**Me and Rach:**

Be in a position to make me feel so

**Rach:**

Damn unpretty

**Me:**

I feel pretty

**Rach:**

Oh, so pretty

**Me (and Rach):**

I feel  **(pretty and witty and bright)**

And I pity

**Rach** **(me):**

Any girl who isn't me

Tonight  **(Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh-oh-oh)**

Tonight  **(Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh-oh-oh)**

Tonight  **(Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh-oh-oh)**

Tonight  **(Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh-oh-oh)**

I feel pretty  **(You can buy your hair if it won't grow)**

Oh, so pretty  **(You can fix your nose if he says so)**

I feel pretty and witty and bright  **(You can buy all the makeup that M.A.C. can make, but if)**

**Rach and I:**

You can't look inside you

**Me:**

Find out who am I to (Rach: Aahh)

**Rach and I:**

Be in a position to make me feel so

**Rach:**

Damn unpretty

 **Me (and Rachel)** :

I feel pretty

**(But unpretty).**

I looked at her excitedly once the song had finished, "You remember?!" I exclaimed,

She looked down at her feet, "I'm sorry Quinn, but no." She answered truthfully,

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault." I told her firmly,

"I did get a really bizarre sense of déjà vu though… Have we performed that song before?" She asked curiously,

"Yup, we rocked that song," I answered proudly,

"Huh," She replied, "We'll have to find something else for our duet then."

"I know just the song," I answered, clicking play on her iPod.

"Really?" She asked me, raising an eyebrow sceptically,

"Please?" I begged her, pulling my best puppy dog eyes, "It's such a beautiful song!"

"Fine," She rolled her eyes, "But you get to answer any weird questions we get." She compromised,

"Deal," I agreed with a smirk,

"Let's practice then, shall we?" She said, rewinding the song to the start and pressing play.

* * *

In Glee the next day, I was nervous about performing another song with Rachel. I picked the song, not just because it was a nice song, but also because I felt it really fitting, mainly for the start of our relationship.

I'm pretty sure, that the group wasn't expecting Rachel and me to come out of our rehearsal in one piece, apart from Tina and Artie of course. It still bothered me that everybody seemed to think I was going to murder Rachel if we were ever left alone, but it really wasn't my priority at the time. First things first, I needed to get Rachel on my side. It didn't matter if nobody else believed me, she was the only one that mattered to me. The only would that would ever matter to me. I was, however, very grateful of the fact that both Tina and Artie, plus my mom, knew about Rach and I. If worst came to worst, at least they could offer a hint of credibility to my story.

Mr Schuester walked into the room and I turned to Rachel, who was sitting behind me, next to Sam,

"You ready?" I checked,

She nodded, so I raised my hand to volunteer to sing,

"Yes, Quinn?" Mr Schue acknowledged,

"Rachel and I have our duet prepared," I informed him, and I could see Rachel nod in agreement,

"Great, show us what you've got," He invited,

We got up out of our seats, and I took the short opportunity to do some pre-emptive damage control,

"We chose this song because not only do we both love it, but we relate to the lyrics in different ways. We would like to dedicate this number to some special people in our lives," I introduced vaguely, nodding to the band,

 ** _[Me]_**  
All I knew this morning when I woke  
Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before.  
And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago  
Is green eyes and freckles and your smile  
In the back of my mind making me feel like

I looked at a point on the wall as I sang, not really wanting my words to be misinterpreted by anyone, namely Finn.

 ** _[Me]_**  
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now  
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now

Rachel's voice joined in beautifully, I chanced a look at her, only to find that she was watching Sam, who was grinning back at her.

 ** _[Both]_**  
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now  
I just wanna know you, know you, know you

 ** _[Both]_**  
'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."  
And your eyes look like coming home  
All I know is a simple name  
Everything has changed  
All I know is you held the door  
You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

Rachel took over for the next part, her voice in a lower octave than usual, but she pulled it off stunningly. The performance was going extremely well, and we were just in the middle of it.

 ** _[Rachel]_**  
And all my walls stood tall painted blue  
And I'll take them down, take them down and open up the door for you

The next time we sang together, I looked over at her, only to find that she was watching me too, a small smile etched on her face. I looked away fairly quickly, not wanting the sign to be misread by the group.

 ** _[Both of us]_**  
And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies  
The beautiful kind, making up for lost time,  
Taking flight, making me feel right

 ** _[Both]_**  
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now  
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now  
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now  
I just wanna know you, know you, know you

 ** _[Both]_**  
'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."  
And your eyes look like coming home  
All I know is a simple name  
Everything has changed  
All I know is you held the door  
And you'll be mine and I'll be yours  
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

I sang loudly for the bridge, putting all of my emotion and effort into singing the four lines. It was a powerful part of the song, but only three people in this room knew the true meaning of the words.

 ** _[Both of us]_**  
Come back and tell me why  
I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time, oh, oh, oh.  
And meet me there tonight  
And let me know that it's not all in my mind.

 ** _[Rachel]_**  
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now  
I just wanna know you, know you, know you

 ** _[Both]_**  
All I know is we said, "Hello."  
And your eyes look like coming home  
All I know is a simple name  
Everything has changed  
All I know is you held the door  
You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

 ** _[Me, with Rachel]_**  
All I know is we said, "Hello."  
So dust off your highest hopes  
All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed  
All I know is a new found grace  
All my days I'll know your face  
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

I smiled at Rachel as we sang the last line, incredibly proud of both of us. She smiled back, then surprised me by giving me a big, friendly hug to celebrate. I hugged her back gratefully, missing the contact from my girlfriend. I pulled back after what I felt had been an appropriate amount of time and could see Rachel flush slightly.

'Still got it,' I thought to myself with a grin,

The song had received an excellent response. The whole class was cheering and clapping enthusiastically.

"Wow, that was outstanding girls." He congratulated us, "Alright, who's next?" He prompted, and Rachel and I took our seats.

The next people who offered to go were Santana and Mike, who did a rendition of 'Sing', from the Musical 'A Chorus Line'. It was very entertaining, but I still figured Rachel and I had it in the bag.

* * *

Two days later, we were sitting in the choir room, having just been told by Mr Schuester, to vote for who we thought deserved to win the competition.

"Alright, you can't vote for yourselves, okay? We want this to be fair, so everybody vote honestly." He told us,

I chose Finn and Kurt, as my choice for the winners. They had done some duet that I had since forgotten the name of, which had been perfectly executed. I was happy that they had managed to solve the remains of that little conflict that they had, and I thought they deserved a win. Not more than us though.

Mr Schuester grabbed the slips of paper and sorted them out on top of the piano. The whole group was sitting on the edge of their seats, nervously awaiting the verdict. Mr Schue finally seemed to come to a decision, and stood in front of the group, holding the voucher for the dinner for two in his hand,

"Alright, everybody. It was a close call, but the winner of this voucher for BreadstiX is…." He paused dramatically, "Rachel and Quinn!" He announced,

I think, that I may have actually squealed at that announcement,

"Thank you, everybody, for voting for us," I heard Rachel say gratefully from the back,

I walked up to Mr Schue and grabbed the voucher he was holding out to me,

I had just won, a once in a lifetime opportunity, for a date with my (ex?) girlfriend. This was the perfect next phase for my master plan.

I approached Rachel after class as she was heading out to her car,

"Rach!" I called out to her,

She turned around with a smile, which I couldn't determine the authenticity of, "It's still very weird that you call me Rach," She told me,

"Sorry," I apologised,

"Do you need something?" She questioned, pulling out her car keys,

"Oh, well, I was wondering when you wanted to use the voucher," I told her, waving the voucher in front of me,

"Oh, let me see," She thought for a second, "Well, my dads are both out on business from Friday morning, I'd be ordering something for dinner anyway… Why don't we do it on Friday evening then?"

"It's a date," I winked at her, turning on my heel so that I didn't have to see her reaction to it.

Had I have looked around, I might have been surprised with what I saw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm sorry for the ever so slightly longer gap between these chapters. I've been super sick, and super busy recently. Which is, all in all, a pretty hellish combination. This next week is really, and I mean, really busy for me, so the time between updates might be a bit longer. But after that, I'm free for literally the next 3 months. This chapter may seem short, but I wanted to keep the 'date' and the competition in separate chapters. Tell me what you think of my idea to create a video trailer for this, and review if you enjoyed the chapter. Stay tuned for the next one, and I'll see you then! -Lauren's Glee Stories


	9. Better, or worse?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter!!!-Lauren's Glee Stories

**Quinn's POV**

I smoothed down my dress and took a deep breath in. I was standing in front of Rachel's house, hand raised to knock on the door, but not quite managing to bring myself to knock, and dropping it by my side. Tonight, was our dinner at BreadstiX. As much as I knew this wasn't a date, it still felt like one, and it felt kind of like our first date, seeing as Rachel had no memory of the others. So, yeah, I was really nervous. How many times do you have to repeat your first date? I mean, seriously. I raised my hand to knock, again, and did so three times. I tried to calm myself down in the time it took for Rachel to get the door. It kind of sucked, in a way, because whatever I was thinking, Rachel didn't think of it as a date. She had a boyfriend anyway, she's not  _really_  the type to cheat. She only did with Finn because she was freaking out.

"Hi!" Rachel greeted cheerfully as the door swung open,

She looked stunning. And not in a 'Red Carpet, wearing way too much makeup' way, but in a 'Not even trying but still looks completely hot' way.

She really was dressed pretty simply. She was wearing a simple green dress, with heels, and she was currently fiddling with her left earing, trying to put it in.

"You almost ready?" I asked her,

"I am," She started, putting her earing in, and grabbing a bag from her console table, "Ready to go!" She finished, walking out and closing the door behind her,

"Great!" I walked over to my mom's car, which she had  _again_  lent me, and opened the passenger's side door for her,

"Ever the gentleman!" Rach joked as she slid into her seat,

I laughed and closed the door, going over to the driver's side door and getting in next to her,

"So, this isn't a date right?" I clarified, half-jokingly,

Rachel laughed in response, "No, I have a boyfriend, remember?" She said pointedly,

"Oh, yeah, what's his name," I commented,

"It's Sam, not what's his name," She reprimanded, with a mock stern glance my way,

"Yeah, yeah," I rolled my eyes,

Sam was a good guy, I wasn't about to deny that, but he was dating my girlfriend, so… I felt like I had the right to dislike him,

"I really like him." She whispered quietly, almost as if she were speaking to herself,

"He a good guy?" I asked her,

"The best," She said simply,

"Good," I replied honestly,

So, it didn't mean I was just about to let him run off with my girlfriend, but at least he was treating her right. We were both silent after that. Not saying a word to each other for the rest of the drive.

When we got to BreadstiX, I opened the car door for Rachel, and proceeded to open the door of the restaurant,

"Table for two please," I requested once I saw the waitress, who led us to a little booth in the middle of the restaurant,

Once we were seated, I noticed Rachel looking around nervously,

"Not wanting to be seen with me in public?" I teased,

"Not so much that…" She replied evasively,

"Then what?" I asked, much more seriously,

She leaned slightly forward in her chair,

"Aren't  _you_ scared to be seen with  _me_ , in public?"

"Of course not!" I objected quickly,

Rachel raised an eyebrow at me,

"I'm not!" I protested again, "Rachel, look, we were dating,"

"Still up for debate," Rachel muttered under her breath, but I chose to ignore it,

"We were dating, and I've been out with you before." I pointed out,

"To BreadstiX? The busiest restaurant in Lima?" She quizzed,

Uh, well, "We have been to BreadstiX before…"

"On a Friday night?"

"Look!" I said, slamming my menu down on the table, "If I were scared to be seen with you in public, I would not be here." I hissed at her, "But I love you, and as soon as you realise you love me back, I will shout from the rooftops about Rachel Berry being my girlfriend. I don't give a  _flying fuck_ , about anyone else.  _You_  are all that matters to me."

Rachel's eyes were wide and I realised that I may have come off a little bit angrier than I intended,

"Sorry," I apologized softly, picking my menu back up,

"Don't be," She brushed it off, "I appreciate the drama of it all, to tell you the truth. It would make a great movie."

I chuckled at her response, Rachel thrived on drama.  _Of course,_ she was finding this entertaining.

"What are you having? The vegetarian lasagne?" I questioned,

Rachel gasped, "How did you know?" She asked me,

"It's your favourite," I replied simply,

Rachel opened her mouth, as if to speak, but closed it again shortly after,

"Am I right?" I asked teasingly,

"Yes, but I really don't want to admit it."

"Change of topic?" I offered, and Rach nodded happily, "How are your headaches?" I asked her casually, knowing full well that she wasn't taking them seriously,

Rachel seemed ready to make up a lie, but I raised an eyebrow, challenging her to do just that, so she relented,

"They're pretty bad. They can get better or worse, depending on what I'm doing."

"You need to go see your doctor." I urged her, "It's obviously because of the accident."

"I'll see." She replied, and was started to say something else when she was interrupted by a familiar voice,

"Fancy seeing you two here," Santana said, sliding into the seat next to me, whilst Brittany sat next to Rachel, "Tubbers, Man-hands," She nodded,

"San," I warned, glaring at her,

"Berry." She re-stated begrudgingly,

"Santana," Rach greeted politely,

"So, what ya up to?" Santana queried,

"You know what we're up to, Santana, we're using the BreadstiX voucher that Mr Schue gave us." I reminded her pointedly,

"Can we join you?" Brittany asked, and unfortunately, it was not done maliciously in any way,

I was about to object when Rachel answered for us, "Of course you can, the more the merrier, right Quinn?" She prompted,

"Right," I answered through gritted teeth,

"So, what are we talking 'bout?" Britt asked,

I groaned and put my face in my hands, so much for a 'date'.

* * *

We stopped just outside Rachel's door after the 'date',

"Have fun?" I asked her,

"Yeah, Santana isn't as bad when she doesn't have an audience," She replied with a slightly fond smile,

"She's not too bad," I admitted,

"Listen, my dads aren't here tonight, and I don't like being in the house alone, would you like to stay over?" She asked, almost shyly,

I pretended to think about it for a moment, "Hmmm, if I must,"

"Well I wouldn't want to bother you," she said teasingly,

"I think I'll survive," I joked,

"Come on then," She said, unlocking her front door,

I walked into her house like I had so many times before, and it felt familiar and warm. I'd missed being able to actually  _be_  in her house, invited. She kicked off her shoes, and headed upstairs, me following closely behind her.

"I'm just going to get changed," She told me, gesturing to her bathroom door, "You can grab some clothes from my wardrobe," She instructed,

"Sure," I smiled, if there was one thing I loved more than seeing Rach in my clothes, it was  _me_ wearing  _her_ clothes. I had to wear some of her bigger stuff, obviously, but I loved the feeling of wearing her clothes, it just felt,  _right._  I grabbed some trackies and a hoodie and changed quickly, just pulling my hoodie over my head just as Rachel came out of the bathroom,

"Ah! Sorry!" She shrieked, covering her eyes and turning away,

"Don't worry about it," I smirked, adjusting my hoodie, "It's fine, I'm decent."

She turned around slowly, blushing furiously, "Sorry," She apologised again,

"Don't worry about it," I repeated,

"I'm pretty tired," She said with a yawn, "Can we just, sleep?"

"Sure, where's your inflatable mattress?" I asked her, slightly awkwardly, moving towards the door,

She looked confused at that question, "Oh, right, to be honest, I can't be bothered to get that out." She shrugged,

"I do have to sleep somewhere…" I pointed out,

She chuckled, "Look, Quinn, I have gotten to the point where I trust you not to murder me in my sleep," She explained,

Was she saying…

"Just sleep with me, I don't bite." She shrugged,

I stared at her wide-eyed for a second before shaking away all of the inappropriate thoughts that had formed in my mind, "Okay…" I agreed hesitantly,

I thought there might be a catch or something, I mean, up until that point, Rachel had still been really weird around me. She might trust me not to murder her in her sleep, but I've seen Rach's psycho face, it was a tough call.

She got under the covers of her bed, and I flicked off the lights, walking over to join her.

After a couple of minutes lying there, Rachel spoke up in a quiet voice,

"You make them better, you know,"

"Hmm?" I replied, not sure what she was talking about,

"The headaches." She explained, "You make them go away," She repeated,

My heart started beating a little quicker, "And Sam?" I asked quietly,

"Makes them worse," She admitted,

I smiled at that revelation, it was just a little 'Fuck you' to Sam. I shifted in the bed slightly, moving so I was behind Rachel, with my arm loosely around her waist. I dropped a kiss on the top of her head and closed my eyes,

"Night Rach," I said sleepily,

"Night Q," She replied softly.

It would only be when I woke up the next morning, that I would realise she called me 'Q'.

* * *

The next couple of weeks, went by pretty smoothly, really. Nothing else happened between Rach and me, and before I knew it, it was almost Regionals, and in typical New Directions style, we left preparation for the last minute.

"Okay," Mr Schue started as he walked into the Choir room, "I'm thinking of changing things up this year." He announced, "We're going up against the Warbler's and Vocal Adrenaline, both two of our toughest competitors, so we need to bring our A-game. I thought, seeing as both of the teams had high numbers of male students, compared to female, that we could try and use the girls in our team to our advantage." He explained,

Everybody looked at each other, unsure of what he was talking about,

"I'm thinking, that two of the girls can do our duet!" He announced,

There was some chatter around the room as people debated whether they like the idea or not. I was alright with the idea, as long as Rachel could sing. As much as the rest of the team found Rachel annoying sometimes, there was no denying that she was talented. Obviously, I knew she was talented, and I also knew that my girlfriend would kill me if I ever suggested otherwise,

"So, in keeping with tradition, the duet is going to go to the winners of our competition, Quinn and Rachel!" He exclaimed,

"We are honoured Mr Schue, we won't let you down," Rachel said from behind me,

Everybody was clapping for us, well, probably for Rachel, and I didn't really know what to say, so I just left Rach to field the questions and thought about what song we could do for our duet.

* * *

The day of Regionals came, and I was more nervous than I had ever been for a competition. Not only did I have a solo, but I was singing with Rachel. I was never nervous around Rachel when we were dating, but now that she was dating Sam, I wanted to impress her, which in turn, made me incredibly nervous.

I had thought about what song the two of us should sing, and had thought about it for a long time. I ended up suggesting the song 'I've Had (the time of my life)' to Rachel, and she had loved the idea.

I had bought a necklace for Rach and was planning on giving it to her before we started, a good luck charm if you will.

After we had arrived in our dressing room and settled down, I got up to go to the bathroom, nodding my head at Rachel, and walking out of the room.

It must have worked because I heard some light footsteps behind me,

I turned down a corridor and came to a stop in a relatively well-hidden spot,

"Hey," Rachel greeted when she walked up to me, "Did you want to talk to me?" She asked curiously, stepping closer,

"I wanted to give you this," I said, pulling out the bag and grabbing the necklace out,

"What is it?" She asked, perplexed,

"A necklace. A good luck charm." I explained,

Rachel looked apprehensive so I pulled out the big guns,

"It's gold, and has a star on it…" I smiled,

Rachel gathered up her hair and turned around, "If you insist…"

I unclasped the necklace and put it around her neck, making sure it sat just right,

"Do I get a thank you?" I asked with a sly smile,

"Thank you," Rachel said gratefully, pulling at the necklace around her neck,

"No," I said, moving a step closer to her, "Can I get a thank you?" I asked again, smiling mischievously,

Rachel looked around us, checking to see the coast was clear, and she stepped up to me, hesitantly pressing her lips against mine. After I made sure that she wasn't freaking out, I pulled her closer to me and deepened the kiss slightly, Rachel responded, doing the same thing, but after a couple of seconds, she pulled back,

"I, uh, see you before the show," She said quickly, rushing back down the corridor,

I smiled to myself, 'Yep, I'm getting there,' I thought to myself, and jogging back towards the dressing rooms.

* * *

Before the song started, Rachel and I were standing behind the curtains that led you to the aisle, and I was quietly freaking out to myself,

"Rach?" I called out, walking over to the other side,

"Hmm?" She responded,

"I know you don't feel the same, but just know, that when I sing this song, no, when I sing most songs, it's for you." I told her, before walking back to my side, not turning to see her reaction.

* * *

"And the winner of the 2012 Regional competition is… The William McKinley High School New Directions!"

I put my hand over my mouth, we were headed to Nationals! Everybody was squealing and jumping up and down excitedly.

"We did it!" Rach squealed in my ear, jumping to give me a big hug,

"We sure did," I smiled back, holding her tight,

She let go way too soon to go back and give Sam another hug, and San and Britt came up to me, congratulating me on helping them win.

I was happy, but it was also a little bittersweet. By this time, Rachel and I were supposed to be out to all of our friends. We were supposed to be out to the whole damn school. I never imagined that Rach and I wouldn't be dating by this time of year. I never imagined us not dating. Full stop. I thought we would be together forever. But this wasn't the end, of course. It was just a little blip on our radars.

When we got back to the dressing room, Mr Schue broke out the sparkling cider and we hung around with each other, chatting about the win and how much we deserved it. At one point, Sam and Rachel were making out in the corner, and I stared at her sadly before averting my gaze. Most people were oblivious, but I caught Tina and Artie looking at me sympathetically. They were definitely a couple of people to keep an eye on. They had been spending more and more time together recently, and Tina had been neglecting Mike in favour of spending time with her friend.

I looked back at Rachel to say her pressing her hand against her forehead, obviously suffering from a headache. Sam was now talking to Finn, so he didn't seem to have noticed the pain his girlfriend ( _my_ girlfriend) was in. I went over to my bag and took out a couple of headache tablets, plus my bottle of water, and went over to Rachel,

"Come on," I said, looking to see if anybody was watching, which they weren't, before grabbing her hand, and pulling her along with me,

I led us down a corridor, and outside to get some fresh air,

"Take these," I instructed, handing her the tablets and bottle of water,

She gulped them down and slumped against the brick wall, "Thanks," She said quietly,

"Come here," I said, holding my arms out in front of me,

She looked a bit apprehensive at first, but she walked forward anyway, snuggling against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, and rested my chin on her head,

"I really do love you, Rach," I told her,

"I know," She admitted quietly, "I know." She repeated even more softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you liked this, and I'll see you next chapter!-Lauren's Glee Stories


	10. Forgive me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!-Lauren's Glee Stories

**Quinn's POV**

I really can't excuse what had happened. It was a really bad day. After what had happened at Regionals, I thought maybe things would be different with Rachel. But there I was, at school the next day, and there they were, kissing in the hallway just as they usually did. They looked happy, which made my blood boil.  _Someone else_  was making  _my_  girlfriend happy. I really did hate the fact that Sam was this amazing guy. But, I could see why Rachel went for him. I mean, aside from our gender, we are two pretty similar people. The blonde hair, the jock/cheerleader similarity. It would have made me laugh if the whole situation wasn't so fucking depressing.

So, I watched them all day, trying my best to not look like some crazy stalker. They were annoyingly cute, so much more so than usual. Which was weird, when I thought about it, but I tried not to. Rachel's headaches seemed to be ever present though, and I knew for a fact that being with Sam was making them worse; I saw her swallow down tablets with water several times that day.

It was in glee club that everything kind of exploded. We were all in costumes for a group number we were going to perform, and we were waiting for Mr Schue to arrive. Rachel and Sam were sitting in front of me, and the whole club was just chattering quietly,

"So, do you want to come over to mine for dinner?" Rach asked Sam,

"Sure, my parents are out tonight anyway," Sam replied,

"Good, my dads were wanting to see you again, they adore you," She told him,

That made me angry. The fact that not only was she inviting him around for dinner, but Hiram and LeRoy actually liked Sam.

"Well, good, I like them too," Sam said with a goofy grin,

"I love you," Rachel said quietly,

I froze _, 'love'_? Really?

"I love you too," Sam told her, leaning in to give her a kiss,

I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the room, not even stopping when Mr Schue saw me storm past him, or when Tina and Santana called my name out. I ran all the way to the bathroom and stopped when I got there, allowing myself to cry once I knew I was alone. I wanted to punch something, the mirror seemed like a good choice, but the door swung open before I had the chance,

"What's going on?" Rachel asked in confusion,

"Oh," I scoffed sarcastically, "What the fuck isn't going on?" I shouted back at her,

"Don't get angry with me!" She shouted just as loudly, "I didn't do anything!"

"Of course not, you're just flaunting your happy little straight relationship in front of me!"

Rachel didn't look guilty, she moved closer to me, "I'm dating Sam, Quinn! What do you want me to say? That I'm still in love with you?! Is that what you want to hear!?" She shouted right in my face,

My hand moved of its own accord and I found myself almost, almost, slapping Rachel on the cheek, my hand stopped inches away from her face, 

"I'm so sorry," I whispered to her, still in shock,

I didn't give her a chance to reply, I didn't even look at her directly, not wanting to see the look on her face. I just ran out of the room, and just sprinted out of the school, running until I was under the bleachers. Thankfully, nobody was there, the skanks had long left the school, so it was just me, left all alone with my thoughts. Maybe that wasn't the greatest idea. I just hit Rachel. I mean, it was just a bitch slap, and technically we weren't dating, but I still felt horrible. I could just feel all the progress that I had made with her slip away into nothing. I buried my face in my hands and let out a barely muffled scream. My life was fucked up, and I was just making my situation worse.

"Quinn?" A cautious voice asked,

I looked up to see it was Tina, and I wiped my face embarrassed, and ashamed,

"God, Tina," I moaned, "I messed everything up!"

"Hey, hey," She tried to comfort, moving closer to me, "What happened?" She queried, still acting a little wary of the situation,

"I almost hit her," I whispered to her, 

She backed away slightly, but kept pushing, "What do you mean, almost?"

"I mean, she annoyed me, and I almost slapped her," I hissed back at her, "I completely screwed up this time,"

She took out her phone and typed out a message, before putting it back in her pocket, "I'm sure that Rachel's fine," She tried to reassure me, holding her hands out as if trying to tame an angry animal, "You can't have completely ruined things," she said reasonably,

"I can't have," I repeated brokenly, "I need her. I need Rachel! She completely hates me! I just want things to go back to the way they were before," I sobbed, "I love her, so, so much. She still views me as the bitch that spent so much of her time torturing her. Oh my god, what if I ruined things, Tina? I can't live without some part of Rachel in my life! She was just starting to like me, and now," I started hyperventilating thinking about what I had just done,

"I can't," I gasped, "Shit,"

I sunk down to the ground and the world started closing in on me, I was gasping for air, and trying desperately to control my breathing,

"Quinn, shit, just breathe, Quinn, everything will be fine," Tina tried to reassure me,

I was vaguely aware that she was on her phone at this point, but I was focusing on trying to breathe properly.

"Come on, Quinn, you'll be fine," Tina repeated, kneeling down next to me and rubbing my back,

It took a few minutes, but eventually, my breathing evened out, and my vision cleared,

"Thanks, Tina," I managed to get out,

"Tina? Quinn?" Came Artie's voice from somewhere beyond the bleachers,

"We're under here!" Tina called back,

Artie wheeled his way into view, stopping a couple of feet in front of us,

"Everything ok?" He asked, pushing his glasses up his nose,

"Quinn was just freaking out a little," Tina replied vaguely, on my behalf,

"Ok, what happened?" He queried again,

"Rach came after me," I started to explain, "And we got into a fight, and I almost slapped her," I answered shamefully,

"Rachel's a drama queen, Y'all, she lives for that kind of stuff, I'm sure everything will be fine," he tried to reason,

Yeah, I would just have to try twice as hard now. This was a minor blip on my radar, I could still pull it back, it would just be slightly harder.

* * *

I went over to Tina's house that night, with Artie, and we watched a movie and talked until I decided that I would go to Rachel's to try and talk to her. So, I left Tina and Artie behind and walked to Rachel's house, which wasn't that far from Tina's.

I stood in front of the house for a moment, before deciding that I would just knock on the front door.

"Hell... Oh, Quinn." Hiram greeted cautiously,

"Hi, Mr Berry, is Rachel here?" I asked him politely,

Hiram looked over his shoulder before he replied, "Sorry, Quinn, she's out with Sam at the moment," He explained awkwardly,

"Quinn?" Came Rachel's voice from behind Hiram,

"Oh, you're still here!" Hiram said hastily,

Oh, that's what was going on,

"It's alright, we're doing a project together for Glee," Rachel lied smoothly,

Did that mean she actually wanted to talk to me or…?

"Right, glee project," I agreed,

He looked at us suspiciously, but shrugged,

"Alright, uh, enjoy," He said awkwardly before walking off,

Rachel looked at me pointedly, before turning on her heel and walking upstairs, obviously expecting me to follow her, which I did timidly,

"So," I said, once I walked into her room,

"So?" She prompted, a small smile on her face that I couldn't quite decipher,

"You do not know how sorry I am, Rachel, I let my emotions get the hang of me, and it will never happen again," I swore to her,

"I forgive you, Quinn," She said simply, "I'm a drama queen," She shrugged, "I appreciate the odd catfight, or bitch slap," She added, "We could call it, the hit that missed," She declared dramatically, spreading her hands in front of her, 

"That doesn't make it okay," I argued,

"Well, maybe some grovelling  _is_  in order," She teased, "Kurt came along a few minutes after you left," She started,

Oh shit,

"Yeah, you might have a little bit of explaining to do tomorrow," She said guiltily, "I tried to defend you, but he was having none of it, he even…" She trailed off,

"He even what?" I prompted,

"He told Noah…" She said with a guilty look,

"My life's over!" I said dramatically, flumping down on Rachel's bed,

"Noah told Sam, Sam told the guys, and Kurt tried to text Tina back but she was MIA, Artie too actually…" Rach pondered, lying down on the bed next to me,

"Want to watch Rent?" I asked her,

Her face lit up like a freaking Christmas tree, "What kind of a question is that?" She responded, jumping out of the bed to grab the DVD from her shelf,

I sat against her bedhead and patted the spot next to me expectantly. Rachel came and sat next to me, sitting a bit away from me,

"Still getting the headaches?" I asked, already knowing the answer,

"Yeah, they've been really bad today," She said sadly,

"You spent a lot of time with Sam today," I pointed out,

She scooted closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder, "There's something wrong," She admitted,

"I've been trying to tell you that for ages!"

"I love Sam," She told me, quite unhelpfully if I might add, "I can see myself staying with him, for a long time, or forever," She added,

"Can we skip this information?" I asked huffily,

"I even imagine that my first time will be with him," She said thoughtfully,

"Jesus Christ! Could you be a little less of an insensitive bitch?!" I snapped,

"But something's off," She said, ignoring my statement, "I mean, my headaches always, without fail, get worse around him. It's like my brain is trying to warn me, or something, like it's trying to tell me something,"

"It's because Sam is a male version of me," I insisted, "It's like dating me, but slightly off, so your brain is trying to fight it,"

"I don't even like girls," She protested quietly,

"I know," I replied, and resolved to just sitting and watching the movie quietly,

At some point during the movie, I fell asleep and woke up to the sound of someone clearing their throat. My eyes snapped open and I could see LeRoy standing in the doorway. I tried to jump out of the bed, but there was a heavy weight on my arm, which I quickly realised was Rachel,

I coughed awkwardly, and gently moved Rachel's head off of my arm, putting a pillow under her head instead. It would have been the perfect moment to kiss her forehead, but her one of her dads was standing  _right_  there, so I refrained,  _just,_  and stood up, as LeRoy obviously wanted to talk,

When we were outside, I shut the door softly, and when I turned to look at LeRoy, he just raised an eyebrow at me,

"I can explain," I said feebly,

"Please do, I mean, you'd think that 'Stay away from my daughter', would have been explicit enough," He replied pointedly,

"We have a glee thing…"

"Mhhhmmm, I know Rent is enjoyable, but I wouldn't class it as a 'Glee' thing."

I put my face in my hands, but looked up when he started talking again,

"Now, it would be very easy, judging from what I've heard, to kick you out, and I still bet my money, that if I called Noah right now, he would advise me to do just that." He told me, "But," He added, "Rachel doesn't just fall asleep on people she doesn't like," He reasoned, "So, doing what my daughter would seemingly want me to do, you can stay tonight, as long as you make it to school in the morning and don't lay a hand on my daughter," He threatened, but with a slight smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, "Everything should be fine,"

I smiled gratefully at him,

"I still have no clue what the hell is/was going on with you and Rachel, but I will leave the judging for my daughter, and will hereby take a step back from this situation," He informed me,

"Thanks, Mr Berry," I said gratefully, and he nodded at me, before walking away, and I went back into Rachel's bedroom,

I took this opportunity to kiss Rachel softly, and I could have sworn, that I saw her smile.

* * *

The next day, I woke up to Rachel shaking me,

"Come on sleepyhead," She instructed, "Out of bed, we have to have breakfast and get ready for school,"

Breakfast, I hadn't been the best with that recently. Ever since the car accident, I hadn't really been eating properly. I guess it was stress, and slight depression, possibly. My mother had noticed, and she just tried her best to make sure I ate enough when she was there.

"Yep, I'm making you have breakfast, you need to eat. You're skinnier than I remember." She told me sternly,

"I was pregnant; last you remember…" I pointed out,

"Yeah," She answered, "Still,"

I shook my head fondly, and got up out of the bed, "You always were a worrier," I said with a smile,

"I can't help it," She defended,

I shrugged, and went to her closet to grab out some clothes, changing without even looking behind me,

When I turned around, Rachel was (covertly) checking me out, but looked away quickly, not looking suspicious  _at all_.

We had a quick, awkward, breakfast with the Mr's Berry and a quiet drive to school. I was quite content to not talk, and I think Rachel was struggling to stay quiet, but also didn't quite know what to say, so stayed quiet anyway.

I made I through the halls without trouble, but I could see Noah standing at my locker, not looking  _entirely_ happy,

"Quinn," He growled when he saw me,

"Puck," I greeted cautiously,

"What did I tell you about staying away from my girl?" He asked angrily,

"Look, it was just a misunderstanding, between me and Rachel," I told him,

"Seriously, Quinn, I don't hit girls, but if you don't stay away from her, I can add certain complications to your life," He warned, "Last chance," He added, before storming off down the hallway,

I sighed, and heard a small chuckle from behind me, "He's really overprotective, isn't he?" Tina asked rhetorically,

I shook my head incredulously, "If anything, I should be giving everybody that talk, I'm her freaking girlfriend!"

Tina chuckled again and shook her head, "You seem to be in a better mood today," She observed,

"I stayed at Rach's last night," I told her with a small smile,

"So everything isn't completely and totally ruined?" She clarified,

"No," I said, kind of guiltily, "She was really good about it," I told her, "Too good, really," I added after a second,

"Don't feel too bad, you just bitched slapped her, all girls do it," She shrugged,

"It doesn't make it right,"

"Just don't hit my bestie again," She warned,

I sighed dramatically, and leant up against my locker, spotting Rachel down the corridor, who looked a little dazed, and confused…

"I'll be back," I told Tina, walking down to talk to Rachel, "You okay?" I asked her, and she jumped before turning around,

"I'm fine," She told me, backing up a couple of steps,

"You sure...?" I asked suspiciously,

"Just peachy," She responded with what I assumed was a false smile, before turning on her heel and walking away,

I considered going after her, but decided against it, and headed to the first period.

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

I raised my hand but lowered it again. It was late, I wasn't sure quite how late, and yet, there I was, in the middle of the night.

I had had a stressful day, and I had freaked myself out to the point where I couldn't think about anything else and had to do something about it.

So, I raised my hand once more, and knocked on the door firmly, three times. I repeated it after hearing no response from inside,

I could hear some noise from inside before the door swung open,

"Rach?" The voice asked curiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you liked it, and I'll see you on the next chapter!-Lauren's Glee Stories


	11. What did you just say??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, enjoy!-Lauren's glee Stories

**Rachel's POV**

I was sitting on the bed, completely embarrassed, and therefore, roughly the colour of a tomato,

"I'm so sorry," I apologised again,

"Hey, it's alright, like I said, it was nothing that hasn't happened before," Noah tried to reassure me with a joking smile,

I buried my face in my hands, oh yeah, this was the second time I had done this, well, that's what Noah told me anyway,

"I can't believe I'm a…" I trailed off,

"You'll be fine, princess, you got used to it once, you can do it again," He told me, sitting next to me on the bed, "You're handling it slightly better than you did the first time," He noted,

"Maybe it's because part of my brain had already accepted it?" I guessed,

"Maybe," He agreed,

I sat up on his bed, "On another note, you keep on saying that this has happened before, why didn't you tell me when I woke up from my coma?" I questioned,

He shrugged, "I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but I thought it was something you needed to figure out for yourself, you know? I'm not sure you would have believed me if I told you,"

"No, you're probably right," I agreed, "I probably would have told you that you were mad, and never spoken about it again."

"So, you're not mad at me?" He checked,

"Of course not," I assured him, leaning my head on his shoulder, "Plus, I am the one who kissed you, you should be mad at me," I reminded him,

"Eh, I was kind of expecting it," He shrugged,

I looked down at his pyjamas and giggled, "Superman? Really?"

"You never change, do you?" He asked rhetorically,

I shrugged and snuggled into his chest, I could worry about anything else tomorrow.

* * *

So, I had discovered that I liked girls. Yes, I do mean in  _that_  way. I, Rachel Berry, was a lesbian. Ta-da! Yeah, everybody except me probably saw that coming. It had kind of been coming for a while, thinking about it. The whole thing with the car crash, and whatever the hell was going on with Quinn, kind of messed me up, and it meant that I was in even more denial than I'd ever been. For the record, I still refused to believe that Quinn and I had ever, truly, dated. I meant it when I said that I believed that she loved me. But that was a subject for another time.

So, I had to do the best, most ethical thing for everybody. I had to break up with Sam. It kind of hurt my heart, to have to do it, because I did love him, just in a very platonic manner. He was a great guy. He'd never pushed me, or hurt me, or upset me in any way, shape or form. So, I called him over to my house, to which he sounded strangely reluctant, but agreed nonetheless.

I heard a knock at the door so rushed to answer it,

"Sam, hey!" I greeted, not awkwardly at all, like,  _at all,_ "Listen," I told him, as we made our way into the living room, "We need to talk,"

Sam winced, and sat down opposite me, "Look, I can explain,"

"You see, I really wanted to…" I paused, "Wait, you can explain what…?" I asked suspiciously,

"Wait, what are you talking about?" He questioned,

"What are you talking about?" I shot back instantly

We smiled at each other, "Okay," I started, "On three?" I suggested, "One, two, three,"

"I'm kind of into girls," I said cautiously,

"I'm gay," He said at the same time,

My eyes widened, as did Sam's, "Did you just…"

"Wait, what did you…" He said at the same time,

I held my hands up, "Did you just say you were gay?!" I exclaimed,

"Did you…?" He replied, a lot more cautiously, or carefully,

I laughed awkwardly, "So, I'm a lesbian, and you're gay?" I asked incredulously,

Sam burst into laughter, "This is going much better than I was thinking it would," He chuckled,

I sat down next to him on my couch, "I think it goes without saying that we take an oath of silence,"

"Agreed," He said, wiping tears (of laughter) from his eyes,

"Is there a guy?" I questioned curiously,

Sam grew slightly serious, "Yeah, but, he's taken," He told me sadly,

I winced, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry,"

He waved his hand dismissively, "Not your fault." He shrugged, "So, is there a girl?"

I paused. I wasn't quite sure how to answer that perfectly innocent question, "I think… I think there might have been…" I decided,

He looked at me curiously, but I looked away, and he obviously decided that I wasn't going to talk much more,

A couple of moments passed in silence before I spoke up again, "Does this mean… I mean, can we…" I stuttered awkwardly,

"Still be friends?" Sam finished for me,

I looked at him hopefully, "Can we?"

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it softly, "Of course we can," He laughed, "I still really care about you, Rachel,"

I smiled, "I still care about you too,"

Sam laughed again and pulled me into a hug, "Want to go to BreadstiX?" He asked,

"Sure," I agreed happily, standing up, and pulling him up after, "It can be a celebratory meal," I decided,

"Yeah, you are kind of the first person I came out to," He agreed,

"I'm honoured," I replied, and he held out his arm for me,

Okay, so that went better than I had expected, but what next?

* * *

The next day at school, Tina approached me wearily,

"You look, happy," She noted cautiously,

"Oh Tina, it's a wonderful life," I said gleefully, "Look at the trees and the birds! And look, I see a rainbow!"

"Did someone slip you Vitamin D this morning or something…?" She questioned,

I swatted at her arm, "No, silly, I'm just having a good day," I reassured her,

"Oh, good," She smiled, and we headed off to our English class,

Part of me wanted to tell Tina that I was gay, the whole crash thing didn't really change the fact that she was my best friend. The other part, was just a little bit more cautious, and perhaps a bit more cynical than the other bit, and decided against telling her.

"Okay class, I want you to pair up, and with your partner, I want you to choose a poem that you can do an essay on," Our teacher informed us,

Tina turned to me excitedly, "Oooh, I have a great idea!" She whispered,

"What is it?" I replied curiously,

"Okay, it goes like this;  _Do not go gentle into that good night."_

I got a weird feeling of déjà vu, I remembered hearing this poem, where was I? Was I on a beach?

" _Old age should burn and rave at close of day;"_ Tina continued,

" _Rage, rage, against the dying of the light,"_ I finished confusedly,

My head was killing me, and the whole room seemed to be swirling around me,

"You've read that to me before, we were at the beach," I reminded her, almost accusingly,

Tina looked confused, "I don't remember that…" She replied, clearly confused,

Images from that day at the beach were burning in my mind,

"I have to go," I excused, running out of the classroom, not stopping to consider what my teacher would think,

I ran out of the school and ended up sitting on the bleachers, grateful for the fresh air outside.

My head had cleared, and the headache was no longer bothering me, but the images from the beach were still there. They confused me because they didn't seem like normal memories. Like, I couldn't remember being at the beach with Tina, but this image was presenting itself in the same way a memory would.

I put my head in my hands, it was really confusing, even though it may seem like a minor thing, alarm bells were going off in my head. Something just didn't feel right.

"Baby?" A panicked voice called to me,

I looked up to see Quinn rushing towards me, "Rach? Are you okay?" She asked, getting down on her knees in front of me,

I held my arms out to calm her down, "I'm fine, really, no need to worry," I assured her,

"Oh," She said awkwardly,

She stood up, straightened her uniform out, and looked over her shoulder,

I laughed, "Yeah, no one saw that little meltdown you had," I joked,

She chuckled, and sat next to me, "What are you doing out here then?" She asked, a little suspiciously, though it seemed like she was trying to hide it,

"I was just," I paused, "Thinking," I decided,

She eyed me wearily, "Okay…"

A question popped into my head, "Hey Quinn," I started.

"Yeah?"

"When you and I, 'dated'," I said with air quotes, to which she scoffed, "I wasn't on the Cheerios," I stated, or was it more of a question?

"And…?" She prompted when I failed to continue,

"Well, you got me a spot on the Cheerios…" I continued,

"And…?" She prompted again, confused,

"Was I not, popular enough for you?" I whispered, assuming this was all real, of course, "I mean, our relationship was a secret for months, and you never got me onto the Cheerios, but after I woke up from my coma, then you decide to get me on?" I queried, trying to talk through my thoughts,

"NO!" She practically shouted, "No, no, no, you have the wrong idea," She said pleadingly, "Look, before your coma, we were really good at hiding this, right? So, after you went into the coma, I was miserable, and Coach Sue hauled me into her office. She had heard me talking about you in Ms Pillsbury's office. Cameras," She added at my questioning glance,

"Right,"

"So, she confronted me, about you, and she wanted to help me, so she offered to give you a place on the Cheerios. Not only, could it give me an in with you, but it would allow me to spend more time with you," She shrugged, "Seemed like a good idea at the time,"

Oh, so she didn't have a problem with me being sub-basement on the McKinley High food chain, I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Thank you," I thanked her honestly, "I love being a Cheerio," I admitted,

"Well, I'm glad," Quinn replied graciously,

We sat in silence for a couple of moments, "Do you want to skip school? Come over to my house? We could watch a movie or something?" I offered before even thinking about it,

Quinn smiled softly, "I would love to." She agreed quietly,

"You think this is hard?! Try being waterboarded! That's hard!" Coach Sue shouted from the other side of the pitch to a group of students,

Quinn chuckled, "Let's go," She decided, standing up, and offering a hand to me, which I accepted gratefully.

* * *

Later that evening, we had already watched two movies and were onto our third, when Quinn spoke up,

"Hey, we should do this quiz I found!" She announced excitedly,

"Alright, what's it about?" I replied curiously,

She turned around to face me, her attention still on her phone, "It's on BuzzFeed, right? Apparently, this quiz will, and I quote, 'Reveal Your Secret Sex Talent'."

I froze, uh-oh, not again. Memories were swirling around in my Brain; I was in a park? There was a woman next to me, reading out the same quiz,

"Okay,"

"Pick the scenery that makes you feel the most relaxed." I interrupted her, "Right?" I accused,

She looked at me confusedly, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

I shook my head, to try and rid myself of the weird thoughts swirling around my head, but it wouldn't work. All I knew, was that it felt like everybody was lying to me somehow. I couldn't remember anything, but these were all coming back as if they were memories,

"Can you please leave?" I requested quietly,

"What?" She asked, confused, "We don't have to do the quiz…" She offered awkwardly,

"Leave," I hissed at her,

A flash of hurt showed on her face, which made me feel a little bit guilty, but it was gone as quick as it came,

She nodded at me curtly, and stood up, smoothing her dress, and turning on her heel, before running out of the room,

I lay back on my bed defeatedly, swallowing a headache tablet, before going to bed, and dreaming about more déjà vu scenarios, including one of Alaska, which I am certain, never happened. So what  _was_  happening?

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

"She just, kicked me out," I muttered,

"I'm sure everything's fine," Tina tried to assure me, "She was kind of being weird all day,"

That made me pause, "What do you mean?"

Tina shifted, "I don't know exactly, she was really happy this morning, like, too happy, but then English she freaked out when I read her this poem…"

I nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, I started reading her a quiz and she freaked out…"

Artie cleared his throat, reminding us of his presence, "Well, I think we need a new plan." He said decisively, "Operation Faberry 2.0 is in place."

I nodded, "Right, so, what is Operation Faberry 2.0 again?"

Artie pushed his glasses up his nose, "Yeah, I haven't thought  _that_  far ahead," He confessed,

I put my head in my hands and groaned,

"Hey," Tina said comfortingly, putting a hand on my back, "We just need to think,"

"Okay," I said, rubbing my face before shaking it off, "The chocolate and flowers didn't work, but the necklace did,"

"Maybe we should go away from gifts, at least, bought gifts," Artie suggested,

A thought popped into my head, and I voiced it to the pair of them,

"No! Way too crazy," Tina objected instantly,

"I don't know, T," Artie said, "It could give them a chance to bond over something that isn't as superficial as some of the other gifts have been, gives them a common interest, a reason to talk more often," He listed,

"Come on T!" I insisted, "Come with us to get it?" I offered,

A smile grew on her face and she nodded, "Alright, I'll go, but if she doesn't like it, it's on you," She warned, and I nodded excitedly,

"We'll go tomorrow, after school," Artie suggested, "My dad could drive us,"

We nodded and started brainstorming some other ideas for Operation Faberry 2.0, but I was pretty sure that we wouldn't need them, this next one was a killer.

After we had collected the present, Artie's dad dropped me off at Rachel's house, and I parted ways with them, both wishing me luck,

I grabbed the box carefully, and walked to the front door, praying that her dads weren't home yet, and knocked loudly, balancing the box on my knee,

"Coming!" Rachel sang out from inside, swinging the door open a couple of moments later, "Oh, hello, Quinn," She said, with a bit of what I detected, was guilt,

"Hello, Rach," I greeted back, pushing past her, and walking upstairs with the box,

"Uh, come in, I guess," She replied sarcastically, and followed me up the stairs,

"I got you something!" I announced, gesturing to the box,

"That's for me?" She asked confusedly, "It's huge," She noted, "What could possibly be…"

The box rattled before she could finish her sentence,

She looked at the box with wide eyes, "Am I seeing things, or did that box just move?" She asked cautiously,

"I guess you'll just have to look," I said teasingly,

She backed up a step, "It's not a bomb or anything is it?"

"Would I answer yes if it was?" I pointed out,

She frowned at that, "I guess not," She thought, tilting her head,

"Well," I prompted, "Open it!"

She cautiously stepped forward, and opened the box, taking great care not to rattle it too much.

'One, two, th…' I counted before Rachel squealed loudly,

"You didn't!" She squealed at me, jumping up and pointing at the box excitedly,

I shrugged, "I might have,"

"Oh my god!" She squealed, and ran at me, almost bowling me over, "Are you serious?"

I nodded, to which she once again squealed,

She ran over to the box and picked up the present,

"She's beautiful!" She squealed, admiring the puppy in her arms, "Wait, is it a he or a she?" She clarified,

"It's a she," I told her, a soft smile on my face,

She was cradling the tiny golden retriever in her arms, she was just a baby, really, 3 months old, and she was currently trying to lick every accessible part of Rachel's face,

"Lucy Barbra Berry," She announced suddenly,

"Hmm?" I replied, having not  _really_  been paying attention,

"Her name," She replied pointedly, "I'm going to call her Lucy Barbra Berry," She repeated,

"Why?" I asked her curiously, wanting to know her reasoning behind it,

"Well," she started, putting Lucy in my arms, "You are kind of a second mom to her. You got her, and I think you will want to see her regularly," She said casually, "So, she gets both of our middle names, and my last name," She shrugged,

I walked up to her and hugged her tight, only breaking apart when Lucy started squirming in between us,

"I never thought we'd have a child together," She deadpanned, only managing to stay serious for about a second, before bursting into laughter,

"One day, Rachel," I half-joked, "One day," I whispered to myself,

I stayed at hers that night, partly to help out with Lucy, but it was mostly so we could hang out, we didn't ever mention what happened the previous night. Instead, we stayed up late, talking to each other about the most random, or most serious things. It was the closest I had felt to Rachel in a long time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you liked it!!! I know that might not have been what some of you were expecting at the start, but I liked the degree of symmetry to it, so I thought it would work nicely with the story, I hope you agree. And who does Sam like? Am I even going to pursue that? Did you like the change? I hope you did… AHHH! I just remembered, like, when I was writing this A/N, that Rachel's middle name is Barbra, not Barbara, as much like Streisand herself, she doesn't have the A! Sorry if I misspelt it anywhere, but I will fix it from now on! For any of you Klaine fans out there, I have a story 'First Impressions' that you may or may not like. You should check it out if you like Klaine. Personally, I used to love them, which was why the first story I started on this site was about them, but since I've started writing and reading Faberry, I think they have become my favourite couple. I'm definitely going to write more Faberry, and maybe some Pezberry? I'm also fond of the idea of doing a Zombie! Glee Fic. Would you guys read that? I mean, zombies and time loops are pretty much my favourite topics in films and books. I'm curious, does anybody actually read these A/N's? I should put spoilers in here to see who reads them ;). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, please review, and I'll see you next chapter! –Lauren's Glee Stories


	12. The Park with the Lake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!!!!-Lauren's Glee Stories

**Quinn's POV**

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I looked at my phone, to see a text from Rachel, complete with an attachment,

 _'Come over today, Lucy wants to see you, xx' -_ Maria

My heart skipped a couple of beats. Okay, so she said that Lucy wanted to see me but were the kisses from Rachel or the dog...? The picture was an adorable selfie, of the pair of them. Rachel was pouting, and Lucy had her big brown eyes directed straight at the camera. Seriously, the pair of them were a killer combo.

_'I'll be there in 30'-TLC,_

I typed out the quick reply and jumped out of bed to get ready to go out. I picked a yellow sundress, and went downstairs, only to see that my mom was in the kitchen, singing and cooking breakfast,

"Morning," I greeted, waltzing over to pour myself a cup of coffee, humming randomly,

"You're in a good mood," My mom noted,

"I'm going to Rachel's house," I told her happily, "She invited me over,"

"That's a good development, she remembered anything yet?" She replied curiously,

The grin on my face shrank slightly, "Not yet," I answered carefully, "But I'm working on it," I added determinedly,

She gave me a quick hug, "Everything will work out, you'll see," She promised me,

I nodded, "I know,"

I started to nod off at the breakfast bar,

"When are you leaving?" She queried after I had sat there for a moment,

I shook myself awake, "Right, I should probably leave now," I replied quickly, "Can I borrow the car?" I asked hopefully,

My mom shook her head fondly, "Of course," She answered, "Have fun! Tell Rachel I said 'Hi',"

"Will do!" I shouted over my shoulder, running out the door, making sure I had my phone and purse on me,

I got to Rachel's house in fairly good time, and knocked on her door excitedly,

To my surprise, it was not Rachel who answered the door, but LeRoy,

"Hello, Quinn," He greeted with a tight smile, "They're upstairs," He informed me, gesturing to Rachel's bedroom,

"Thank you, Mr Berry!" I thanked quickly, before running up to see Rachel, well, and Lucy, but Rachel was the one I  _really_ wanted to see,

Rach's door was wide open, so I just waltzed in,

"Hey, Q," Rachel smiled softly after she saw me,

"Hey,  _Rach_ ," I greeted back, emphasizing the nickname ever so slightly,

I went over to the bed, where Lucy was currently curled up and sat down carefully next to her,

"How's she been?" I queried, stroking her soft fur gently,

Rachel beamed, "I adore her, she's so goodnatured, and so well behaved!" She praised, "My dads love her, too," She added as an afterthought,

"I'm glad you like her," I said softly,

Rachel looked at me, "She makes the headaches go away too, you know," She said meaningfully,

"Well, it's good that I have a second in command for the night shift," I joked, to which Rachel chuckled,

"Do you want to take her out? There's a nice park with a lake that we could drive to,"

Rachel stopped stroking Lucy, and looked at me cautiously, "A park...?" She whispered, "With a lake...?" She added with a gulp,

I smiled at her, "Yeah, we've been there before, it's where we had our first date,"

She seemed to be having an internal debate with herself, but after a few seconds she nodded almost imperceptibly, "Okay,"

"Cool, let's go!" I said, jumping up,

She looked at me suspiciously, "Have you had breakfast yet?" She quizzed,

I paused, "Uh, yes?" I answered guiltily,

She sighed, "Come on. First, we have Coco Pops, then, we can leave and go to this... park..." She said slowly,

I grinned. Even with her memory loss, she still knew on a subconscious level that I simply  _couldn't_  refuse an offer of Coco Pops. Don't judge me, I literally  _can't_  say no. They taste too good.

So, after a 'slightly less awkward than last time', breakfast with her fathers, we drove to the park. We decided to take my car, as it had room in the boot section for Lucy and a picnic basket.

Once we got there, I pulled over and let Rachel get Lucy out of the car, which she did, very, very, slowly...

"You alright, Rach?" I asked her concernedly,

She jumped, "Hmm? Yes, I'm fine," She answered quickly,

I looked at her suspiciously, but let her continue with what she was doing,

We walked the short distance to the lake, Rachel dragging behind ever so slightly, and found a nice spot to sit right near the water,

Rachel took a deep breath, "This is the place," She said in a tone a couldn't quite decipher,

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously,

"I've been here," She told me,

"Yeah, we had our first date here," I reminded her,

She shook her head in frustration, and sat down with a huff,

"It's not that," She insisted, "I remember being here, with someone, but I don't remember who,"

Weird, I decided to try and help Rachel to try and figure out what was going on in her mind,

"Okay, what were you talking about?" I asked her,

"She said," Rachel huffed, "She said she was 'out today', and I really didn't get what she meant, and then she was going on about lying, and irony, and I really wasn't sure if what she was saying even counted as irony, and then someone told her she had to go, and she kissed my hand..." She finished confusedly,

Hang on, that sounded kind of familiar,

"That kind of sounds like what I said to you in hospital, the second time I saw you..." I said as casually as I could, "A nurse kicked me out in the middle of the conversation because it was the end of visiting hours,"

She didn't acknowledge the statement, really, she just continued, "I saw that young woman several times, always at this park," She told me, "The first time I saw her, she was inconsolable, kept crying, and she told me she loved me, before she said she had to talk to my fathers?" She said, sounding more like a question than a statement,

This was freaking me out. I mean, only a tiny bit, but still kind of freaking me out.

"Then, another time, she came and read me the same quiz that you showed me the other day..."

This was weird, it really did sound like she was recounting some of what happened during her coma. Which might explain the freakout she had earlier with the quiz, and with the poem that Tina had been talking about...

"And...?" I prompted when she didn't continue,

She blushed, "She was talking about our, love life," She whispered, "I was completely embarrassed, obviously, and tried to tell her that she was menatally unstable, but she didn't listen, or hear," She tilted her head, looking quite cute, though I tried to focus on the seriousness of the situation, "I remember seeing the same woman, and it was always in this place, same voice and what not, but I still can't remember what she looked like," She finished in a whisper,

"It'll come to you," I tried to assure her, placing my hand on her leg, which she didn't bat away,

"I just," She huffed, "I hate the feeling that I'm missing something, you know?"

"You'll figure it out," I reassured her, "You always do,"

Our 'moment' was interrupted by Lucy yapping very excitedly, running over to us with her frisbee in her mouth,

"You want to play with the frisbee?" Rachel asked over-excitedly, in the same way, that most people talk to dogs, or small children, "Come on, let's play with the frisbee," She declared, jumping up from her seat and running a couple of feet before stopping, "You coming, Q?" She asked over her shoulder, in what I could have sworn was a teasing tone,

"Right behind you!" I called back, and she ran off, playing with Lucy who was jumping at her legs as she ran,

I took a minute to evaluate what all of these new developments meant. To me, it seemed that the only logical explanation was that she was regaining some of her memories from when she had been in a coma. It gave me a small glimmer of hope, knowing that she might be remembering things. A small speck of hope, that maybe she would regain her memories from before she was in her coma, from when we were dating, but then, I remembered what Artie had said to me in the choir room that morning,

_Artie looked around a little nervously, "Can I be blunt?" He requested,_

_I nodded,_

_"I think the likelihood that Rachel will get her memories back is about the same as mine is for walking again."_

Those words echoed in my head endlessly, like a horrible dream, constantly on repeat. In that moment, I made a decision with a sense of finality. From that moment on, I wasn't going to try and get Rachel to remember us dating. I was no longer going to try and get her to regain her memories. From then on out, I was going to live in the now. I was going to get Rachel to fall in love with me, right in this point in time, without the stress on both of us of her trying to remember something she was never going to remember. I was going to make her fall in love with me. As far as I was concerned, anyone who said otherwise could go screw themselves.

I ran to catch up with Rach and Lucy, who were currently playing in the shallow end of the lake. I approached them quietly, and splashed some water at Rachel, who shrieked indignantly,

"Oh, you are  _so_  going to pay for that  _Fabray!_ " She warned, kicking up some water at me,

"It's on  _Berry,_ " I declared with a mischievous grin, splashing her right in the face with some water.

* * *

We got back to Rachel's house late afternoon/early evening, after relaxing at the lake for most of the day. It was a tad bittersweet for me though because it was back to school for the week, in which everything would probably return to the way things were.

"Date night tonight?" I asked her, half-jokingly, as we stood in the doorway of her house,

"Date night?" She asked, looking confused for some reason,

"Yeah, two people who are dating, go out for the night," I said slowly, "Date night," I repeated,

"Oh, no," She answered slightly awkwardly,

I immediately went on the defensive, probably reading too much into the situation, but at that point, I wasn't thinking clearly,

"Did Sam break up with you? Did you break up with him?" I gasped, "Did he hurt you? I swear to God when I get my hands on him..."

Rachel placed her hand on my shoulder, and stopped my ranting instantly,

"He didn't hurt me," She assured me, "It ended up being a mutual break-up," She told me, "We parted ways amicably, and are still firm friends,"

Okay, so I wasn't too chuffed about that last part, but hearing that he didn't hurt her was reassuring,

"What happened?" I asked her curiously, a hint of sympathy probably hidden in there somewhere,

She looked away, biting on her lip in an extremely adorable fashion, "We had some... differences... that we simply couldn't ignore, and the only resolution that would be fair to both parties was breaking up," She answered cryptically,

I tilted my head, trying to decipher what she had just said, when she just kissed me on the cheek, and walked into her house, shutting the door softly behind her. I stuttered out an awkward goodbye, before walking back to my car, smiling like an idiot.

* * *

When I got back home, I saw, much to my confusion, a bored-looking Santana, and a well,  _vague,_  looking Brittany,

"Uh, hello?" I greeted as I walked up to them,

"We're having an early dinner at BreadstiX, so get changed," Santana ordered,

I looked at her curiously, "How long have you guys been here...?" I queried,

"Yeah, too much talk, Britts and I wants to get our BreadstiX on, then you, me, and Britts," She gestured between us, "We's be havin' a little _heart to heart,_ " She told me,

My heart rate may have picked up a little bit. There were so many things that Santana could be talking about. Too many, if you asked me, and I had a feeling the conversation wouldn't go down so well...

I got changed quickly, not wanting to draw out the inevitable, and found myself eating bolognese at BreadstiX within an hour.

"Are you guys going to tell me what all this is about?" I asked after the waitress had left,

"Why don't  _you_  tell  _us_ , Quinn? You used to tell us everything," She pointedly, looking what  _might_  have been a little bit hurt,

"Well, some things you don't need to know," I responded cryptically,

"Come on, Quinnie, we already know," Britt said patiently, acting strangely mature about, well, whatever this was, "San just wants you to tell her,"

Literally, there were so many things going through my head at that point that I honestly had no clue as to what they were referring,

"Uh, I'm sorry?" I chose,

Santana shook her head disappointedly, "Britts, you tell her what we're talking about,"

Britt looked happy at the fact that she'd been given a speaking part, "Oh, well, Quinn, we know that you're a dolphin, and we know that you're totally into Rachel, which is cute, but that she doesn't like you back, which is sad," She finished with a frown,

I was speechless, I had no clue as to how they'd figured it out, or why I hadn't been chopped up into millions of tiny little pieces,

"Yep, secret's out," She declared, gesturing wildly with her hands,

"But... how... what... huh?" I finally settled with,

"We've known for ages that you were gay, the Rachel thing was a bit more recent I guess, but Britts here can be very perceptive when she chooses to be," She said proudly,

"But... I mean..."

"Save your breath, Q. I know." She said simply,

"But... how... whaaa?" I repeated again,

"That you're gay! That you were dating Rachel in secret until the accident, where she forgot everything, and now she doesn't believe you when you say that you were dating," She shrugged as if it were all too simple,

"How the hell did you find out?" I asked incredulously. After I'd regained my usual mental processes, of course, "Did someone tell you?"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Goldilocks, no one told us anything. We know, that's all that matters,"

I sat back in my seat in complete disbelief, not even sure where to go from that point,

"Why didn't you tell us Quinnie?" Brittany asked softly,

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat,

"We didn't tell anyone, Britt. It was a secret relationship for a reason," I replied as softly and patiently as I could,

Britt just looked confused, and hurt, "You didn't even tell us that you were a dolphin,"

"I was scared Britt, you have to understand that it's a hard thing to admit to yourself, nevertheless others," I told her carefully,

"I just wish you would have told us," Santana said softly, "It's not like  _we,_ of all people _,_ were ever going to judge you for it,"

"Well, you know now," I pointed out, "No harm, no foul?" I asked hopefully,

"You pay for dinner and we'll forgive you," Santana bargained,

"Deal," I agreed with a smirk,

I was fully aware that I got out of that one easier than maybe I should have.

"So," Santana started, "What's the deal with Berry anyway?" She asked, shoving a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth,

I sighed, this was going to be a long interrogation.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell-o! Hehe, get it? *crickets chirping* Right... Anyway, this chapter was slightly awkward to write, but I have a working computer now! Well, almost working. It doesn't have Word, which is a pain in the ass, but I can manage without it, hopefully. It was a little shorter than usual, and I apologise for that, but I felt as if it contained everything that I wanted in it, and decided to leave the length as is. Also, it's like, 2 am, so I'm bloody exhausted. Anyway... I have decided to leave the 'Glease' story off the table for a while, and have decided that the next story I will write is going to be a Faberry gender swap, thing... It's going to have Faberry, that is kind of disguised as 'Samchel'. I think it will be good, but I will only start writing it after this story has been wrapped up nicely. Beware, this might be the last chapter before New Year... So, hope you enjoyed, comment if you did, and I will see you next time! -Lauren's Glee Stories


	13. Dinner's at Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! (hi Dr Nick!) hahaha, okay, moving on. I hope you enjoy this chapter!! Sorry that it took a while!

** Rachel's POV **

I could feel it happening. I didn't really know if I could stop it. Or if I even wanted to. I did try to ignore it. You know when something is niggling in the back of your mind, and you can kind of hear it, but you just, push it down and try your best to pretend it's not happening? Yeah, I was probably doing that. Not that I'd truly know if that was happening, of course, as that was kind of the point.

So, I decided that the smartest thing to do would be to completely ignore it and deny it if anybody asked me about it. Yeah, the smartest thing. Okay, maybe I was pushing that down too. But I also kind of felt a similarity to the car-crash theory. Or morbid curiosity, maybe. I felt like the outcome could be messy, but I still felt drawn to it. Get it? Anyway, so I did ignore and deny it, but I also continued to explore the situation in a cautious, but still curious way.

Once I got home from school, I decided to call Quinn for some company, as I hadn't had a chance to talk to her all day,

_*Ring-ring, ring-ring, ring-ri-*_

"Hi, Rach," Quinn answered happily,

"Hello, Quinn," I greeted in response,

The line was silent for a few moments before Quinn spoke up again,

"Uh, Rach, was there a reason you called?" Quinn asked awkwardly,

I shook myself slightly, "Right, uh, reason, yes. Um, right, would you like to come over now? Uh, Luc wants to see you..." I informed her,

"Sure, I'll be there in a few," She replied quickly, hanging up the phone,

I was mildly offended before I realised that the only reason she hung up was to drive over here, so I gave her a break.

Sure enough, there was a knock at my door soon after, so I went to answer it,

"Hey," I greeted as I swung the door open, freezing when I realised that it wasn't Quinn at my doorstep,

"Hey," Tina, whom I hadn't spoken to all day, greeted, "You busy?" She questioned, stepping into the house,

"Uh, no, of course not," I answered quickly, pulling out my phone, "Just give me a second," I instructed, closing the front door and walking into the living room, typing a quick text to Quinn,

_'Hey, Tina decided to drop by, could we maybe postpone?"'-Maria_

I rejoined Tina in the hallway, and was about to show her upstairs when there was another knock at the door,

'Crap, that'll be Quinn,' I thought, kicking myself for the complete lack of planning,

"I'll get it," Tina offered, opening the door before I could object,

"Quinn!" She exclaimed, sounding not necessarily happy, but certainly surprised,

"Tina," Quinn greeted politely,

Tina was looking suspiciously between the two of us,

"Don't worry, T, I invited her," I assured her,

Tina smirked at that, but didn't get a chance to speak up before Lucy came bounding into the room, obviously woken up by the commotion,

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Tina, this is Lucy, my puppy," I introduced,

Lucy was already all over Tina, licking her face and hands, which I found slightly odd, as she tended to be a bit nervous around new people,

"She seems to like you," I noted happily,

Tina smirked again, "It's almost like she knows me,"

Quinn, who was standing next to Tina, whacked her on the arm, and glared at her,

"Quinn!" I admonished,

"She annoyed me," Quinn defended,

At this point, Tina didn't look angry, or hurt, but rather like she was trying to contain her laughter,

"What's so funny?" I asked her suspiciously,

Tina took a deep breath, and spoke calmly, "It's nothing, don't worry,"

I looked at the two of them suspiciously, it's like the pair of them were in on some joke, that I probably starred in. Then, of course, I remembered that pretty much everyone in Glee disliked Quinn (most of which was probably my fault), which meant that it was extremely unlikely, that Quinn and Tina would be conspiring against me, so I let the matter lie.

Then again, Tina didn't seem to have any problem being in the same room with Quinn, whilst most of the Glee club couldn't even stand the thought of being within metres of her.

"Who wants to watch a movie?" I asked hopefully,

Tina and Quinn both smiled, and nodded,

"I'm game," Tina affirmed, "You in, Quinn?" She checked,

"Why not?" She shrugged with a mischievous grin,

Okay, so Tina didn't find anything weird about Quinn being here, which made me think something was weird, but even if Tina suspected something was up, she wouldn't tell anyone. She was pretty trustworthy nowadays, which made her an excellent friend to have.

So, we decided to sit in my bedroom and watch Funny Girl. To be honest, I think that they only agreed to it because I wanted to watch it, which I appreciated, but I'm pretty sure Tina was falling asleep in the middle of it.

"So," I started after the movie had finished, "Can you stay for dinner?" I asked, the question directed at both of them,

Quinn elbowed Tina, and spoke up rather pointedly, "Yes, of course,  _I_  can,"

Tina smirked, "Well,  _I_  can too,"

Quinn glared at her, "Don't you have somewhere to be? A boyfriend to cheat on?"

I gasped dramatically, "You're cheating on Mike?" I exclaimed incredulously,

Tina spluttered and glared at Quinn, "No! I am not!"

"Yet," Quinn added under her breath, with a slightly teasing smile,

I once more looked at the pair suspiciously, "Are you staying, or what?" I clarified,

" _We're_  staying," Quinn answered begrudgingly,

"Right, I'll tell my fathers to prepare for two extra," I decided, picking up the phone to text both of my fathers,

So, that was how I ended up at the dinner table an hour later with Tina, Quinn, and Dad and Daddy,

Dad stabbed a bit of his pork, rather violently if I might add, "So, we've been seeing you around here a lot more haven't we Quinn?" He asked a little rudely,

"Dad!" I admonished, "She hasn't been here that much," I quickly told Tina,

"I distinctly remember having her around for breakfast several times," He added as if reminding me,

"No, we didn't!" I objected quickly, and not at all suspiciously, "This is lovely, daddy, homemade?" I asked quickly, changing the subject desperately,

"Honey, you're eating bread," My daddy told me,

I looked down at the food I happened to have in my hand, "Well, you can make bread at home," I replied quickly,

"It's the same bread we always buy," He added,

"Yes, well," I trailed off, putting the bread down awkwardly,

"It's a lovely meal," Quinn spoke up, saving me from the embarrassment, "Thank you, Mr Berry," She added graciously,

"Ah," Daddy dismissed, waving his hand, "As much as I don't like having you here,"

"Daddy!" I reprimanded, shocked that he was being so rude, although I think he may have been joking  _slightly,_

"It would be less confusing for everyone if you just referred to us as Hiram, and LeRoy," He continued, gesturing at himself and Dad,

"Well, then, it's lovely, Hiram," She restated, taking another mouthful,

He grunted in acknowledgement, and continued eating,

"So, is this what it's like every time Quinn stays here?" Tina questioned with a mischievous grin,

"She doesn't stay," I replied instantly, stopping that conversation in its tracks,

"Ow!" Tina squealed, "Don't kick me!" She objected indignantly,

Quinn looked at Tina innocently, "Who? Me?" She asked curiously, "Ow!"

Tina smirked triumphantly, "See how you liked it,"

"What is going on with you two?" I asked them incredulously,

"Mutual understanding?" Tina provided,

I nodded, "Right, well,"

They both laughed, and we all continued eating. Me, still confused about Quinn and Tina, Quinn and Tina, as if they were still in on something that I was clueless about.

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

I seemed to be making progress with Rachel, which I was thrilled about, and we were getting closer and closer with every passing day. I was pretty sure that Rachel still viewed us as friends, but I was okay with that, after all, your partner should be one of your closest friends, if not your closest.

So, I tried to hang out with her as much as possible. I was almost always at her house, sometimes under the guise of visiting Lucy, but lots of the time I just admitted that I wanted to see her, and didn't bother trying to use a cover.

I approached her at school, which neither of us did that often, to talk to her about dinner,

"Hey," I greeted, coming to a stop in front of her locker,

She looked around cautiously, "Hey?" She greeted questioningly,

"Chill, nobody is going to notice you talking to me," I joked,

"It's more  _you_  talking to  _me_ ," She emphasised,

I sighed, and leaned against her locker, "When are you going to believe that I don't mind being seen with you? Plus, you're a Cheerio now, people won't look twice, especially when you're in uniform," I added, looking at her appreciatively,

"What about Glee club? Nobody knows that we are friends... You've got to admit, it's a little suspicious," She told me wisely,

I opened my mouth to object, I mean, I'm pretty sure that half of the Glee club knew that we were friends, but I didn't speak. After all, after Rach and I started dating, she didn't even want people to know, I wasn't sure what this Rachel's view on our 'relationship' being 'out' was,

"I'm right, aren't I?" She asked with a smug grin,

I elbowed her playfully, and changed the subject, "Can you come to dinner tonight? You can bring Luc," I said temptingly,

She pretended to think for a moment, "Okay, at seven?" She checked,

"Dinner's at seven," I clarified, slipping in a reference to 'Mr and Mrs Smith', which we used a lot when we were in our secret relationship. Don't judge, alright, it was really fun... Anyway,

She didn't even bat an eyelid when I said it, which made my smile fade slightly, but then I remembered the promise I had made. I had promised to fall in love with today's Rachel, and not force her to remember the things from before our accident. So, I smiled broadly, nodded goodbye to Rachel, and sashayed down the hallways, my ponytail swinging with my hips.

* * *

The doorbell rang at a minute to seven that night, so I called down to Sophie,

"Soph, could you get the door?" I shouted from my room,

"Got it!" She yelled back before I assumed she went to get the door,

I was wearing my favourite green dress, with a brown belt and boots, even though I shouldn't be wearing shoes inside, they  _do_  complete the look,

I finished putting my earrings in and walked to the top of the stairs, where I could see Rachel at the bottom,

"Hey," I greeted shyly, walking down the stairs carefully,

But, alas, not carefully enough. I tripped on the stair second from the top and squeezed my eyes shut in anticipation of a collision, but it never came. Instead, a pair of arms were wrapped tightly around my waist,

"You're going to have to be more careful next time," She told me sagely, making sure I was steady on my feet before letting go,

I blushed, "Thanks," I said gratefully,

"No worries," She said with a modest shrug,

I was kind of worried at this point, that Rachel still viewed me as nothing but a friend, but then again, Rachel was still kind of in the 'Sophomore' mindset, so I had to tell myself to relax. It could happen if I tried. But then again, Rachel was still 'straight', and I said that with quotes because I'm pretty sure in the back of her head she knew she wasn't, but that part of her brain wasn't 'activated' yet, I guess.

"Dinner?" I asked hopefully,

"Certainly," She affirmed,

So, minutes later we were sat at the dinner table with my mother,

"So, Rachel, how are you enjoying being on the Cheerios?" My mom asked with polite, and genuine, interest,

"Oh, Ms Fabray,"

"Call me Judy," My mother interrupted,

"Oh, Judy, I love being a Cheerio, I now have no problems with bullying, and Coach Sue keeps a firm eye on me as well," She gushed,

"And you've been doing fine, since the accident?" My mom pushed,

"Mother," I said warningly,

Rachel shot a grateful look at me, "It's alright Quinn," She assured, "I'm doing quite well since the accident, thank you," She told my mother, "My memories still haven't come back, and I have a slight issue with headaches, but I'm doing well,"

I smiled at her, she was very resilient, Rachel always had been. Very perseverant, very bossy, and very talented. They were her trademark qualities.

She caught me smiling at her, and I looked away blushing.

I realised that the time when Rachel had kissed me, I had been distant for the night. I was upset about being in love with her when she didn't love me back, even though she did, and I had finally snapped that night.

A small plan formed in my head, a plan that the Rachel that was my girlfriend probably wouldn't like very much, but the Rachel in front of me would fall for easily.

For the rest of dinner, I didn't speak much. Only nodding and saying 'yes' and 'no' when it was appropriate.

After dinner, I headed straight upstairs, and Rachel followed behind me, cautiously grabbing my arm when I didn't stop,

"Q?" She asked concernedly, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Why do you care?" I snapped, echoing my words from that night,

She took a step back, "What do you mean, why do I care?" She asked in an exasperated tone, "Why  _wouldn't_  I care?"

"You shouldn't," I once again echoed, "I've always been awful to you,"

She rolled her eyes, in what I hoped was a slightly fond action, "You're making an argument out of nothing, Quinn. I'm one of your best friends, you're projecting," She noted wisely,

"Don't act like you know anything about me!" I snapped at her,

She rolled her eyes once more, "Yes, I do, I know more than you think I do. Your favourite colour is green, you're born on March the 17th. You have your mother's eyes, a beautiful hazel-green colour. I know that you love to argue," She continued, following my plan perfectly, "I know all of your favourite songs. You have a beautiful younger sister. You are a very black and white person, two sides to a story and that's it. I could go on!" She yelled, eyes wide as she realised all of the things she knew about me, "So, don't say I know nothing about you," She finished firmly,

"Wow, five things, impressive," I replied sarcastically, although it hurt me to feel I was being mean to her,

"GOD!" She yelled exasperatedly, "What is this about?" She shouted, getting right in my face,

"You know what, it doesn't matter. You need to leave. Go hang out with Tina, or Puck, or Sam!" I yelled back, altering last year's speech slightly, "You know, you said that you broke up with him, but I don't believe you! You guys insist that you are just friends, but I know for a fact that everybody thinks you two are still fu-"

I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence, for Rachel grabbed my face, and pulled me in for a soft, but firm kiss, moving her hands down to my hips,

Although I saw it coming, I was still shocked and didn't respond, so Rachel pulled back, much like she had the first time.

She looked horrified, and backed up slowly,

"I- I'm sorry," She tried to apologise,

I shook my head, and strode toward her purposefully, closing the door as she opened it,

"I'm not letting you get away twice," I told her seriously, before pulling her in for another kiss, which she returned cautiously, but enthusiastically, throwing her arms around my neck. I pulled away, bracing myself against the wall, still shocked at how one kiss from Rachel could get me so weak at the knees,

"Wanna talk?" I asked breathlessly.


	14. A Second-First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I should be uploading a few over the next few days.

**Rachel's POV**

I nodded wordlessly, not sure what to say, or if I could get the words out,

"Please tell me you're not messing with me," I pleaded hopefully, sitting down on Q's bed,

"Rachel!" Quinn huffed, sitting down next to me, "When are you going to believe that I'm not lying?! What do I have to do?" She asked tiredly,

"Q, you have to understand, this," I gestured between us, "Goes against everything I remember!"

"What about everything you know now?" She asked quietly, tucking a bit of hair behind my ear,

I leaned into her touch slightly, before she pulled her hand away, "I like girls, Q," I admitted,

She chuckled softly, "Any girl in particular?" She questioned with a soft smirk on her face,

I smiled mischievously, "Do you know the Head Cheerleader?" I replied,

Quinn blanched, "It's not Santana is it?" She asked fearfully,

I hit her arm playfully, "The other head Cheerio," I corrected,

"Me?" She asked timidly,

"You," I confirmed,

"Me," She repeated in an awed tone like she couldn't believe what I was saying,

"Does this mean what I think it means?" I double checked,

"It depends. If I said I was in love with you and wanted to date you, would you say yes?" Quinn queried playfully, moving slightly closer towards me,

"Hmm," I pushed Quinn gently so that she was lying on her bed, "Yes," I confirmed, kissing her softly,

"Yes?" She asked hopefully,

"Yes," I repeated, before she pulled me in for another, slightly more heated, kiss.

I was dating Quinn Fabray. Life for Rachel Berry was about to get interesting.

* * *

"Come on!" I whined, "Just tell me where we're going!"

It was Friday night, and Quinn and I were going on our first date. To, well, I wasn't sure where yet.

"I want it to be a surprise!" Quinn argued vehemently,

"I'm wearing a blindfold!" I huffed indignantly,

"I want it to be a surprise," She repeated, this time her voice sounding quiet and timid,

I sighed and blindly reached out for Quinn's hand, finding it and giving it a gentle squeeze, "I'm sure I'll love it, Quinn. I'm sorry, it's just that I get all nervous and excited about surprises." I apologised,

"It's fine," Quinn said quietly, "I just want it to be perfect,"

The vulnerability in her voice made my eyes water, "It will be," I reassured her,

"Really?" She asked softly,

"It will, as long as you're there," I assured her,

"Thank you," She said, and I could tell it was sincere,

We spent the rest of the ride in a comfortable silence, simply enjoying each others' company,

"We're here," Quinn declared as the car came to a halt, "Let me help you out," She offered, jumping out of the car and running to open my door, "Watch your step," She warned, as I stepped onto the curb,

"So chivalrous," I noted,

Quinn giggled, and cleared her throat, "Take my arm, it's a short walk to the place,"

I reached out and took her arm, grabbing it and holding it tight,

We walked a short distance before Quinn stopped and pulled her arm away from me,

"You can take your blindfold off," She announced,

I took my blindfold off and gasped when I saw what Quinn had organised for us.

We were standing in front of a gazebo, in a beautiful park, with lots of trees and flowers. In the middle of the gazebo, there was a round table with a white tablecloth, set for two, with an abundance of food on it. The gazebo itself was decorated with fairy lights and there was a small radio playing some music quietly.

"How did you do this?!" I asked in awe,

Quinn smirked slightly, "I have contacts," She revealed cryptically,

"Coach Sue?" I queried,

Quinn's smirk dropped slightly, "How did you know?!" She exclaimed,

"Oh please, who else do you know? Besides, Coach Sue is the only one I can think of that would do some bullying to help out her head Cheerio,"

Quinn laughed, "I guess you're right," She admitted, "I asked if she could help me, and of course when she found out it was about you, she agreed immediately and got some Cheerios to help her. She has a real soft spot for you, you know?" She added softly,

"I know, she's not half as bad as she tries to be,"

Quinn nodded in agreement, "Would you like to have dinner?" She offered in a faux posh voice,

"Why certainly," I replied in the same manner,

She walked over to the table and pulled out the chair,

"Thank you,"

She sat opposite me, "So," She started, playing with her cross necklace, which I knew was a nervous habit of hers,

It made her look adorable, but it was sad to think that she was so nervous, and even sadder to think that it was because of me,

"Hey," I said softly, grabbing her free hand, and reaching over the table to pull away the other from her necklace, "Don't be nervous, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere," I assured her,

"That's what you said the last time," She replied, tears filling her eyes,

For once, I could see just how much our accident had affected Quinn. Not physically, no, she had gotten out of the accident for the most part intact. Mentally, however, I could see that what happened to us, to me, had caused some deep  _emotional_  scarring. Now that I was friends with Quinn, more than, I was determined to help her. Not fix necessarily, because that would imply she was broken, but help.

"Quinn, I'm not going anywhere," I told her firmly,

She pulled her hands away and wiped under her eyes, "I'm being silly aren't I?"

"Feelings aren't right or wrong," I informed her sagely, "They just are,"

She smiled fondly at me, "I've heard,"

"I've said that before?" I asked curiously,

"All the time," She responded with a small smile, "All the time,"

"Huh,"

She laughed, "Does it not sound like something you would say?" She teased,

"I guess you're right," I pondered, "It's just it's hard, you know, being told things about yourself that others know before you,"

"I'm sorry," She said, looking down at her food, which she was picking apart,

"Don't be," I said firmly, "It's not your fault,"

"I was distracting you," She told me, still looking down,

"What do you mean?" I pressed,

"I turned the radio on, I was the one that started singing. It was my fault," She repeated,

I rolled my eyes fondly, "It wasn't your fault Quinn. It was the other driver, remember, the one that had been drinking and driving?" I prompted,

"I distracted you," She repeated as if I hadn't heard,

"Quinn," I said firmly, "I don't  _ever_  want to hear you blame yourself for our accident. Ever. Never." I added with finality,

"Ever," She echoed,

"It's not your fault," I repeated,

She blushed, "I'm being ridiculous,"

I picked up a grape and threw it at her, "Don't make me say it again," I warned playfully,

"Yeah, yeah," She rolled her eyes with a smile,

"I'm sorry, Quinn, for leaving you. I'm sure that's what the Rachel with all her memories intact would want me to say to you,"

"I know, Rach, but you shouldn't be," She replied weakly,

"I know, that it feels like I abandoned you. Like I'm not here anymore, but I am, Q, you don't have to be afraid of me leaving you again. I promise,"

"Don't make promises you can't keep," She warned,

"I can keep it!" I insisted,

She shot me down with a look, "Let's move on, shall we?" She asked,

"Yes, just remember, we have to save some stuff for the second date," I said with a wink,

Quinn blushed and stuttered a bit, before clearing her throat, "How's the food?" She asked casually,

"Lovely," I complimented, "You did well. Well, you, Coach Sue and the Cheerios did well," I teased,

"In my defence, there was no way I would have gotten this done without them," She defended,

I hummed noncommittally, "So, is this our second 'first date'?" I asked with a smirk.

We stayed there for hours talking about everything we could think of, then, she dropped me off, kissing me very chastely on my doorstep, before leaving.

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

My second-first date, with Rachel, had gone exceedingly well, and I couldn't have been more pleased. I had relayed the success to Tina and Artie, who were also very pleased, Santana and Britt, and I had also passed it onto my mom. Oh, and Coach Sue, who pretended like she didn't care, but was most likely pleased as well.

I trusted my little circle, my loop, which is why I was surprised when, the following Monday, I heard a voice in the hallway,

"Hey, Lucy," The voice called out casually from behind me,

I froze. Ever since the incident with Lauren, people had forgotten about it, and everybody knew not to call me by my first name. Even Rach would never use my first name,

"What did you just call me?" I asked incredulously, turning on my heel, glaring, only to find Kurt standing there, looking back at me,

"Lucy," He repeated casually, "Let's talk," He said in a semi-threatening manner, which left me really confused, as I remembered having a conversation much like this with Lauren, but the whole school knew about my name, so he couldn't try and threaten me with it or anything...

He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving me in the hallway, gaping like a codfish. After a moment or so, I straightened up, closed my mouth, and followed him, hips swaying in my usual HBIC manner.

I followed him into the classroom he had entered and closed the door, not wanting our altercation to be heard by anyone else. I turned to face him, and crossed my arms, only to find him mirror the gesture,

"Nobody calls me that," I warned,

"Well, that's not entirely true, is it?" He raised his eyebrow,

I scoffed and threw up my hands incredulously, "What do you mean?!" I exclaimed,

"Rachel calls you that," He explained, cutting straight to the chase, "And I know why,"

Now, I knew that Rachel had told Kurt about 'Lucy' and everything, but as far as I knew, that was all she had told him, so I was understandably a little bit confused, or sceptical,

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied, trying the 'denial' route, to see if he was bluffing,

"Yes, you do," He rolled his eyes, "What's your deal? Quinn? What are you trying to achieve?" He interrogated, stepping closer to me,

"Woah there, Liberace, chill out, why don't you just go hang out with Blaine," I said, backing up and holding my hands up in defence,

He glared at me pointedly, "For your information, Blaine and I broke up a while ago, now talk," he said, refusing to back down,

I faltered when I heard about him and Blaine's break up, but when I saw he was unmoving, I moved on,

"How the hell did you find out?" I exclaimed incredulously,

"It doesn't matter how I found out! What matters, is that you are messing with Rachel!" He said in an accusing tone,

I paused at that. Messing with Rachel?

"Hang on a minute, what are you talking about?" I asked cautiously,

He also paused, "What are  _you_  talking about?" He replied just as cautiously,

"Um, me dating Rachel in secret, her forgetting because of the accident, then me trying to win her back?" I replied questioningly,

He coughed awkwardly, "Right, exactly what I was talking about..." He answered, "Now..."

"Wait, what were you talking about?" I asked suspiciously,

"I may have gotten a slightly different impression..." He answered evasively,

"Rigghhht..." I replied, "How different?" I asked curiously,

"Eh," He shrugged, "Not that different, the general gist is that you're gay, and were dating Rachel,"

I looked at him suspiciously, but decided to move on anyway,

"Right, anyway," I said awkwardly, "Why did you want to talk to me, again?"

"Oh," He coughed, "Don't hurt Rachel," He warned, "She has a lot of friends. Many of whom would hurt you if they ever found out,"

"I don't plan on it," I swore,

He seemed pleased with that answer, "Good,"

"Can you... not... tell anyone?" I asked hopefully,

"Keeping her in the closet Fabray?"

"No, we just haven't talked about anything yet," I answered semi-truthfully,

He eyed me cautiously, "I won't tell anyone, but don't hurt her," He warned, before walking off out of the classroom,

I considered telling him that practically half of Glee club already knew, but decided against it. The fewer people that were talking about it, the less likely that the truth would get out to the wrong people.

* * *

"Hey," Rachel said as she approached me after school at my locker,

"Hey, Rach," I replied,

"Want to come over after school?" She asked, almost shyly,

"You driving?" I asked jokingly,

"Of course," She replied with a smile, "Chop chop!" She joked, walking off to her car, leaving me to gather my books and follow behind,

We got to Rachel's house in good time, and Lucy was waiting at the door for us when we walked in,

"Lucy!" I squealed, "Did you miss me?" I asked her in that baby voice I'm sure I've mentioned,

I turned around, with Lucy still licking my ear, to see Rachel watching us with a fond smile,

"What?" I asked her with a smile,

"You know that thing, how guys are hot when they're good with kids?" She queried,

"Yes...?" I replied questioningly,

"Yeah, that's you and Luc," She informed me with a smirk,

"Luc increases my hotness?" I asked, standing up,

"Just a little," She replied teasingly, "And you're kind of starting to sound like Puck,"

I gasped in mock horror, "Take it back!" I demanded,

"Never!" She replied stubbornly, poking her tongue out before running up the stairs,

"Hey!" I squawked indignantly, running up the stairs after her.

An hour later, we were lying on her bed talking, when Rachel paused,

"We've never,  _done it,_  right?" She asked timidly,

I looked at her in amusement, "Not yet, no," I replied honestly, "I mean, we've done  _stuff,_  but never  _that,"_

"Right," She said thoughtfully, "You're not expecting us to  _do_  anything like  _that_  are you...?"

I sat up, "Of course not! Rach," I said, taking her hand, "I don't want us to do anything until you're ready," I assured,

She relaxed slightly at that, "Right, well, not yet," She replied,

"I don't mind, Rach, whenever you're ready," I reiterated,

"What about our friends?" She asked curiously,

"What about them?" I replied, just as curiously,

"When do we tell them?" She queried,

"Again, Rachel, whenever you are comfortable to tell them, we can tell them," I assured,

"What about what you're comfortable with?" She responded with a pointed look,

She had raised a good point actually. A lot of the time in this relationship I was always saying 'When you're comfortable' and never really been the deciding factor in our major decisions. But I didn't think that was a problem, I was just impartial most of the time. Not caring too much either way and putting more importance on whether or not Rachel was comfortable.

"I don't mind," I answered truthfully, "I was ready to tell people once, I would be ready to tell them again." I explained, "It doesn't matter when. I mean, my mom already knows, and my sister. And you know, and you're the most important person to me,"

She smiled, "You don't care when we tell people?" She checked,

"It's up to you," I reaffirmed,

"Let's agree to not tell other people until we agree otherwise," She decided,

"Certainly." I responded with a smile, kissing her chastely, "I love you." I told her,

"I love you too." She responded with a shy smile.

I decided not to tell her about the few people that already knew. I didn't want to worry Rachel or stress her out. Anyway, I still trusted my loop. I knew that they would keep quiet until they were told otherwise. So, for now, Rach and I's relationship would stay secret. Just for a little bit longer.


	15. Road to Nationals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!!! Comment if you do!

**Quinn's POV**

"Quinn," Rachel started, sitting up on the bed next to me,

"Hmm?" I replied in acknowledgement,

"We haven't talked about college," She pointed out, rather unhelpfully if I might add,

See, the thing is, we never really talked about college the first time we were together either. We started discussing it, but as soon as location came up, we changed the topic. Everybody knew, me more than anyone, that Rachel was destined for New York. NYADA, to be specific. Or NYU, maybe. Me? I wasn't sure that I could get into any colleges in New York, or whether I wanted to. I mean, yes, I did want to get out of Lima. This town is hellish, in a lot of ways. But leaving my mother, and Soph, behind, would be hard. I know New York isn't the furthest place from Ohio, but still, far away from home.

The main thing, for me, was that I wanted to be where Rachel was. The only catch was that I would only go with her if I wasn't holding her back. There had to be something for me in New York, otherwise, we would drive each other insane. Also, I never wanted Rachel to resent me for holding her back. That meant, of course, that staying in Ohio was not an option.

"Quinn?" Rachel prompted, probably not for the first time, and I jumped,

"Yes?" I said, sitting up next to her,

"College..." She repeated, "We haven't talked about it,"

Ah, I wasn't getting out of this one. It was getting close to the end of school. We were now in April and finished school in eight weeks. Eight weeks left until the rest of our lives. First, it was Nationals, coming in a few weeks. Then, we had the end of year exams, and finally, graduation. Well, for most of us.  _Who knew_  what would happen to Puck and Brittany.

"Well, we can talk about it whenever you want," I said casually, trying to subtly avoid the topic, and lying back down on the bed,

"Well," She echoed, "I want to talk about it now," She told me firmly,

I groaned, "Now, now?" I checked,

She pulled me up so that I was sitting, "Now," She repeated,

"Okay, so, you go first," I offered, still trying to delay the inevitable, "Where have you applied?"

Rachel sighed and moved up against the headboard, "NYADA, obviously, NYU, and I've applied to a couple of community colleges as my backups,"

"Right," I replied, "Well, I applied to Stanford,"

She took a deep breath in at that. Yeah, California wasn't really the best option for us,

"NYU, Julliard, and UCLA, plus some backups," I told her, moving to sit next to her,

She put her head on my shoulder, "What are we doing after graduation?" She asked in a whisper,

"What do you mean, babe?" I replied curiously,

She sighed, "I mean, what happens to us," She gestured between us, "After we graduate from High School?" She repeated,

I shifted slightly, "Rachel," I started, before getting up off of her bed and going over to my backpack, Rachel sitting up curiously,

"Look, I don't know which schools we are going to be accepted into, but I do know one thing," I grabbed a small red box out of the bag, without Rachel seeing it, and held it behind my back, "I love you, okay? You already know that, but I love you, so much. It killed me when we had our accident," I explained, "You didn't remember me, for me. You remembered the worst parts of me. The parts that I so desperately to forget."

Tears were welling up in her eyes, and in mine too. I sat on my knees next to her, on the bed,

"But for some reason, you decided to give me another chance, and I can't thank you enough for that. I don't know what is going to happen next year, or in 4 months from now, but I know that I want to promise you something. That I will be here for you as long as you want me," I said, pulling out the box from behind me,

Rachel opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted her,

"Chill, okay, it's not an engagement ring," I assured her with a laugh, and she instantly relaxed,

I opened the box, revealing a simple silver ring that had an infinity sign in the middle. Call me cheesy, but it looked really beautiful,

"This, Rach, is a promise ring, and I want you to have it," I told her,

"It's beautiful!" She exclaimed in awe, grabbing the box from me,

Yeah, my girlfriend could be a bit of a magpie sometimes,

"What are you promising, again?" She asked curiously,

"That I love you, and will be here for as long as you will have me," I repeated, smiling cheesily at her, "What do you say?" I asked with a grin,

"I love it," She decided with a sense of finality, putting the ring on her ring finger,

"I love you," I said softly,

"I love you too," She replied, kissing me softly, and pulling back to admire the ring, "It really is gorgeous," She stated, tilting her head to get a better view,

"It reminded me of you," I admitted,

She looked at me curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's gorgeous, you're gorgeous," I said, gesturing between her and the ring, "It makes sense,"

"You never stop, do you?" She teased,

I pretended to think about it, "Hmm, no, I guess I don't,"

"Do you want to watch a movie?" I asked her,

"Only if I get to choose," She bargained,

Guess it was another musical for me then, "Deal," I agreed,

Though I would never admit it to Rach, I actually liked watching musicals. Especially Rent, Rent was a personal favourite of mine.

* * *

"Alright, guys!" Mr Schuester exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he walked into the choir room, "We need to start preparing for Nationals, which this year, is being held in..." He paused for suspense, and the whole room was on the edge of their seats, "Chicago!" He announced, running over to the board and scribbling it in big letters,

"Whoooo!" Puck cheered from the back, and the rest of the club joined in, clapping and chattering excitedly,

"So," He continued after a moment, silencing the club, "We need to work on a setlist, and who we want to sing what,"

Finn raised his hand, "Me and Rachel should lead a group number," He declared, grinning goofily at Rachel,

"Rachel and I," Rachel corrected uncomfortably,

Finn looked mildly affronted at that, so I jumped in, hoping it wouldn't be too suspicious, "Sam has a really powerful voice," I countered, "Remember when he did Billionaire? That's exactly what we need for Nationals," I suggested, looking pointedly at Santana and Britt, then Artie and Tina, they would understand why I wouldn't want Rachel to do the duet with Finn,

Mr Schue nodded, "Alright, let's take a vote. Raise your hand if you think Rachel should lead a group number with Sam," He instructed,

Tina and Artie put their hands up immediately, as did I, and one by one, other members of the Glee club followed. Everybody was tired of listening to Rachel and Finn's duets, so any chance to shake that up was welcomed. Besides, Finn's voice was overrated. Sam could sing as good, if not better than Finn.

Mr Schue counted everybody's hands, "Alright! Looks like we are going to have a group number led by Rachel and Sam,"

"I think we should do an all-girls number, Mr Schue," Mercedes suggested suddenly,

Everybody nodded in approval,

"Yeah," I agreed, "Judges love the feminine quality and we have plenty of it,"

"Okay, the girls can have a group number, led by Quinn and Mercedes," He decided,

Wait, what?

"We can ask some of the Cheerios to back us up," Santana added,

The girls all nodded excitedly,

"Hang on!" I interjected, "Led by me and Mercedes?" I clarified,

Mr Schue nodded,

"But-" I started to object, but Rachel was looking at me encouragingly, nodding almost imperceptibly,

"Yes?" He prompted,

"Nothing," I brushed off, "It's fine,"

He was about to talk again, but I interrupted, "Rachel needs the solo," I said firmly,

There were a couple of shocked glances, but silenced them with a glare, "She's our best singer." I defended, "If we are going to win, that's how,"

Sam gave me a suspicious glance, " _You_ , want  _Rachel_  to sing a solo?" He checked,

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not saying I want to hold hands with her and sing kumbaya, but she's our best choice for Nationals," I insisted, "Even Santana agrees,"

Santana glared at me momentarily, before speaking up, "It's true," She agreed, "The Dwarf can sing,"

I glared back at her for the use of the nickname, but it seemed to allay Sam's suspicions,

"Right," Mr Schue agreed, "Rachel, you can pick a song for Nationals," He instructed, "Now that all of that is done, we have this weeks assignment..."

* * *

"That Glee lesson seemed really long," Rachel complained, sitting beside me under the Bleachers,

One of the Skanks came around the corner and looked ready to speak up, but I fixed her with my best bitch glare and she thought otherwise, walking back towards the school,

"Yeah, what do you think of this weeks assignment?" I asked conversationally,

"Individuality? I think it will be interesting to see what everybody comes up with," She commented, raising her sandwich to take a bite,

"Quinn?" Santana called out urgently from somewhere beyond the bleachers, before rounding the corner,

Rachel froze mid-bite,

Santana sighed in relief, "Coach Sue needs you," She informed, seemingly oblivious to Rachel's discomfort, "She's in a really bad mood," She warned, before walking to wait around the corner,

"Rachel?" I asked, waving my hand in front of her eyes,

"Did you not see what I saw?" She hissed at me, looking over her shoulder to see if Santana was listening,

"It's fine, Rachel, did she look like she was suspicious of anything?" I questioned, choosing to omit the fact that Santana already knew,

She huffed, "No. But doesn't that make it even weirder?" She demanded,

"Rachel," I sighed fondly, "I've got to go, but don't stress yourself out, okay? I'll be around tonight for a sleepover," I told her, before walking off to go talk to Miss Sylvester about God knows what.

* * *

I was awoken by a noise on the TV. I guess we must have fallen asleep watching TV,

When I didn't feel Rachel's head on my shoulder, I looked up to see her sitting on her windowsill, staring out the window. It was dark out, so I knew she wasn't sightseeing. She always sat there when something was troubling her,

"Rach?" I called out, voice still raspy from not being used,

She jumped, and turned around, "Quinn!" She exclaimed, in a too happy voice,

I was more awake now, and shuffled slightly in bed, "What's up Rach?" I asked her concernedly,

"Hmm? Nothing's up," She replied quickly,

"Rach," I said warningly,

She got up and walked over to the bed, climbing in under the covers, "Nothing, it was just a nightmare, go back to sleep," She told me, flicking off the TV and lamp on her side of the bed,

I flicked on the lamp on my side of the bed,

"A nightmare about what?" I pressed,

She lay silent for a minute,

"Rach?" I prompted,

"What if I never get my memories back?" She asked in a quiet voice, still not facing me,

I wasn't sure if her question had anything to do with her nightmare. Or if there had been a nightmare at all. It seemed like the conversation had just taken a very different turn,

"I'm not the girl you dated, Quinn. What if I never am?"

"Rach," I sighed, "I don't care if you never get your memories back, okay? I love you, for who you are, you losing your memory didn't affect how I feel about you," I assured her,

She seemed content with that answer and relaxed slightly, "I love you, Quinn," She told me sincerely,

"I love you too, Rach," I replied, moving behind her and putting my head on her shoulder, "So much," I added quietly, "Goodnight,"

"Goodnight," She replied softly, shifting slightly under the covers,

Okay, that made about 10% of the things we needed to talk about before graduation. I called that progress.

* * *

The next couple of weeks flew past, and before we knew it, it was Nationals. I was glad that Nationals fell several weeks before the end of the term, because it felt like the end, and I really wasn't ready for it to end yet.

"Alright!" Mr Schue called out from the front of the group, "I've organised you into the pairs I want you to sit in on the bus. I wanted everyone to sit next to someone they don't usually sit with. Think of it as an opportunity to get to know one of your teammates better." He explained, before reading some names off of the list,

"Quinn," He called out, "You're with Tina,"

I smirked at that, Tina and I were really close now. Everybody looked a bit cautious about it, but Tina looked like she was trying to hide a smile,

"So, should we agree to not murder each other?" I joked as I sat next to her near the back of the bus,

"It's going to be tough, but it would be a shame to miss Nationals," She joked back, shifting so I had more space,

"How're things with Rachel?" She asked conversationally,

"Really good," I answered with a smile, "I've made a lot of progress," I answered relatively vaguely, aware that Rachel wasn't sure about telling people we were dating yet, "What about you and Artie?"

She looked behind her guiltily, were Mike was chatting to Mercedes, "I'm breaking up with Mike," She told me in a whisper quiet voice,

My eyes widened, "You are?" I exclaimed quietly,

"Shh," She hissed, looking around her cautiously, "I'm going to do it after Nationals, I didn't want to throw him off his game." She confided, "If I'm being honest, I think he knows it's coming. It's just, not right anymore. I love Artie," She added, looking fondly at Artie as she spoke,

"Good," I commented "Just do it sooner rather than later," I recommended, "The less time this goes on, people will be less hurt,"

"I know," She agreed, "I will," She added determinedly, "You're a good friend, Quinn," She added,

"Of course I am," I replied, "I'm good at everything," I added cockily,

She rolled her eyes and hit me in the arm, "Yeah, yeah,"

"You know you love me," I teased, hitting her back,

We spent the rest of the long drive chatting, occasionally putting our earphones in or pulling out a book. Finally, several hours later, we felt the bus pulling up outside of our hotel.

The next hour was spent checking in and getting settled into our bedrooms. The girls in one room, guys in the other. Though apparently, most other teams were doing it by sexual orientation... Which, to be honest, kind of made sense, seeing as the girls had like, two couples in the room... Which kind of defeated the purpose of girls/boys rooms.

"All ready for tomorrow?" Rachel asked as she approached, Tina in tow,

"Yep, I just need to nail the choreography for the group number," I responded,

"You'll do fine, babe," She answered before her eyes widened in realisation,

Tina, obviously, didn't blink, and I just shook my head at Rachel,

"Do you want to go out?" Tina asked, "Explore Chicago a bit? Mr Schue said we could go out if we wanted to, as long as we're in groups,"

"Rachel?" I asked,

She nodded and smiled, "Sounds fun," She agreed.

* * *

Half an hour later, we were strolling around Chicago, looking for somewhere to eat dinner,

"I'm still confused as to when the two of you became friends..." Rachel said confusedly,

Tina and I laughed, "Does it matter?" Tina answered,

"No, I guess not..." Rach replied, "I'm glad you two get along," She added quietly, and my heart warmed,

It was nice to know that her friends were important to her, as friendship had always been an important thing to me,

"Why?" Tina asked curiously, but it was probably faked,

Rachel opened and closed her mouth as she thought of the least suspicious way to answer, "It's, uh, conducive for good teamwork if everybody is friendly towards one another," She answered in her best 'Glee club captain' voice,

Tina smirked but didn't reply, as she knew the real reason behind Rachel wanting us to be friends,

"Oooh! Who wants Pizza?" I asked excitedly, stopping in front of the pizza shop,

"We should get takeout!" Tina suggested, "Then we can take some back to the others!"

"Yes!" Rachel agreed, "The perfect opportunity for team building!"

We got a few boxes of different types of pizza, and made the short walk back to the hotel,

"Should we go to the boys' room first?" Rachel questioned, "We can text the girls to come down," She suggested,

Tina pulled out her phone, "I'll text them now," She told us as we walked into the hotel,

We got into the elevator and pressed the button to go up, "Should we text one of the boys to tell us we're coming?" I asked,

"Nah, we can surprise them," Tina decided,

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, to reveal Sam and Kurt making out against the wall in the hallway,

Rachel cleared her throat loudly, while Tina and I stood there stock still. Half really shocked and confused, the other half just a tiny bit curious. The boys didn't hear her, so she spoke up,

"Ahem! Sam! Kurt!" She called out, seeming not nearly as shocked as she should have been,

The boys pulled away from each other as if they had been burnt,

"Rachel!" Kurt managed, still breathless as he smoothed

Tina spluttered, "Wha... How... Since... Huh?"

Rachel hit Tina's arm, and walked forward, pulling us along with her,

"Boys," She nodded curtly, before walking us past them and into the boys' room,

She put one of the pizzas on a bed, and took us straight into the bathroom while the boys were distracted,

"What did I just witness?" Tina asked, still in shock, sitting on the edge of the bathtub,

"Why are you being so calm about this?" I asked Rachel curiously, sitting next to Tina,

"Yeah! Since when was Sam gay? And what was going on between him and Kurt?" She questioned loudly,

"Shh! Both of you, shut up!" Rachel hissed, "You can't tell anyone okay? Yes, Sam is gay, but this can't get out until he wants it to! Okay?!"

I nodded dumbly, "Right, okay, we won't tell anyone," I agreed, as if in a trance,

Tina nodded too, "What she said," She answered, pointing towards me,

"Right, act natural," Rach warned, as she opened the bathroom door and Tina and I stood up,

"What happened to you guys?" Finn asked with that confused look he sometimes got on his face,

The girls had now joined the boys and everyone was looking at us as we stood in the bathroom's doorway,

"We just had some business to deal with," Rachel answered curtly,

"Wanky..." Santana called out from the back,

I rolled my eyes, "Who's having Pizza?" I asked, changing the subject,

Sam and Kurt had since straightened themselves up (haha, pun not intended), and joined the group, and were looking at the three of us with a mix of suspicion and gratitude on their faces, I nodded at the pair of them, and went to go and get some pizza.

* * *

The next day, we were all standing backstage chatting quietly, waiting for the New Directions to be called on stage when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hallway,

"Rachel?" I asked, "You okay?" I asked concernedly,

She waved a hand at me, "I'm fine, I just wanted to say that I love you, and wish you luck," She told me quietly,

I kissed her on the cheek, "I love you too, now let's go and win this thing!" I exclaimed, and we ran back to the rest of the group,

"Alright, everybody!" Mr Schue called out, "If you perform this  _half_ as well as I know you can, we've got this one in the bag! Hands in," He announced,

"Aaaaaaaaamazing!" We all chanted, and we jogged off to our places behind the curtain.

* * *

"And the winner of the 2012 National Show Choir Championship is..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long gap between the last few chapters! Hope you enjoyed this one!


	16. Time To Talk

** Rachel's POV   
**

"Whoooo!" Somebody cheered from the back of the choir room, popping open a bottle of champagne,

"I can't believe we won!" I squealed in Quinn's ear, giving her a quick hug,

"I know!" She squealed back,

There was a wolf whistle from somewhere in the choir room and I pulled away from Quinn instantly. I looked around, but everybody was minding their own business, no clues as to who had whistled, or if they even whistled at all,

"I heard it too," Quinn whispered, "Don't worry about it," She advised,

I nodded uneasily, "Yeah, okay," I agreed,

Tina came up to us and gave me, then Quinn, a big hug, "We did it!" She whisper shouted in awe,

"Quinn," I started, and she looked at me, "May I speak with you outside?" I asked politely, not wanting to make Tina too suspicious,

She looked surprised, but nodded, "Yeah, sure,"

"Wanky..." Santana mumbled from the other side of the room,

"Santana!" Mr Schue admonished,

She shrugged,

I looked at her in bewilderment, but Quinn just shook her head at me and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the classroom,

"You okay?" She asked concernedly,

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine," I assured her, "I just wanted to talk,"

"Okay, what about?" She queried,

"I want to tell everybody," I declared,

"Okay, when?" She asked, seemingly unfazed,

"What? Just like that?" I exclaimed incredulously,

"Baby," She said, reaching for my hand and squeezing it, "I love you. If you want to tell people, then we'll tell them. Hell or high water," She assured, "Just, let's not get into a car crash this time," She joked,

"Right," I agreed, "I want to tell them after my audition for NYADA,"

"Okay," She confirmed, "Eleven days,"

I smiled softly, "You know when my audition is?" I asked shyly,

"I've been counting down for longer than you have," She confirmed,

For some weird reason, I could feel my eyes welling up with tears, "I love you, Quinn," I told her sincerely,

"I love you too," She confirmed, kissing me softly,

"We should get back," I grumbled,

"I agree, we should be with our teammates today," She decided,

"Come on," I said, holding out my hand.

* * *

"Paaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrraddeeee!" I belted out, holding my arms in front of me as I finished the song,

There was an enthusiastic applause from the people in the audience and Madam Tibideaux clapped politely,

"Thank you," She said curtly, before exiting the auditorium,

Kurt ran on to the stage and gave me a hug, "You did amazing!" He squealed,

"So did you! I mean, The Boy Next Door was a risky choice but you nailed it!" I congratulated,

Someone slow clapped from the audience and I squinted my eyes to see who it was,

"Quinn!" I squealed, running off the stage and practically jumping on her,

She spun me around a couple of times and put me down, giving me a kiss on the cheek,

"You nailed it," She said with a soft smile,

"You saw?" I asked shyly,

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," She replied,

I threw my arms around her neck, "God, I love you," I murmured into her neck,

She chuckled, "I love you too," She replied,

I suddenly remembered that there were other people in the audience and jumped back a step, spinning to see Kurt,

But, he wasn't there. Nobody was. The auditorium was deserted,

I turned around to see Quinn, and she just shrugged,

"We going to tell people tomorrow?" She checked,

I nodded, "Now or never, right?"

"Right," She agreed, "Want to go to lunch?" She asked,

"Of course," I agreed, holding out my hand, which she took, giving it a quick squeeze,

"When do you find out about NYADA?" She queried as we were walking out of the auditorium,

"2 weeks, 4 days," I answered, "What about your applications?"

"2 weeks, 1 day, and 2 weeks, 5 days," She replied.

The next morning, I swung by Quinn's house to pick her up,

"You nervous?" I asked her as she jumped into the car,

"A little," She replied, "You?"

"A little," I agreed,

We were silent for a few moments before Quinn spoke up,

"It's not so much the New Directions that I'm worried about, but the rest of the school,"

"I have to tell my dads tomorrow," I added thoughtfully, "I don't think Dad is going to be too happy,"

"Why not?" She replied, sounding slightly hurt,

"Oh come on, Dad just does the overprotective father role. He likes you, really, and obviously, they'd have no problems with me being gay. He just worries about me a lot. Daddy will be happy, he loves you," I explained,

She turned to me, hope shining in her eyes, "Really?"

"He's always talking about you," I confirmed, "He'll be able to calm Dad down worst-case scenario,"

She nodded determinedly, "Right,"

"It'll be fine, Quinn, let's just, don't worry," I reassured her,

But really, I was worrying. I don't know how this almost went the first time, but I was worried about how the student body would react to the news the head cheerleader was gay. Well, both head cheerleaders. They already knew that Santana was gay. Coach Sylvester already knew, and I was one of her favourite Cheerios's, so there would be no problems there.

I didn't remember what happened when Santana came out, but I had been told about what happened. It wasn't too bad, but Santana was more popular than me or Quinn. After Beth, Quinn's reputation went down by a lot, even if she made a comeback.

I pulled up on a street near the school,

"After school?" I clarified, "In Glee?"

"After school," She confirmed, "Don't worry, I love you, we've rehearsed this, and we have your powerpoint as an emergency back-up," She kissed my cheek, "I love you. Remember we have Cheerio's at lunch!" She told me as she jumped out of the car,

"I love you too," I told her, and she closed the door, waving as she walked off,

Sometimes, I loved her so much, I swear it hurt to see her go. Even if it was just for a few minutes.

* * *

"You ready?" Quinn asked me as we stood in the hallway after school,

"As I'll ever be, next is dinner with my dads," I pointed out,

"Yeah, thanks for that," She muttered,

"You'll be fine," I assured her,

Mr Schue walked past us, the last of the Glee club we were waiting on. Everyone else was already inside. Mr Schue gave us a slightly questioning look as he walked past, but smiled at us warmly, almost encouragingly, which seemed weird to me.

I looked to Quinn, and she smiled at me softly, yet determinedly, and held out her hand for me,

"Together," She said,

We walked into the choir room, holding hands, and Quinn cleared her throat pointedly,

"May we please have everybody's attention?" I asked loudly, my voice wavering slightly, which made Quinn squeeze my hand,

One by one, everybody turned to face us. Their heads shifted down, to see our linked hands,

"What is it?" Finn asked, obviously not getting the point,

"Yeah, what's going on?" Mercedes asked confusedly, looking from Quinn, to me, to our hands,

"Oh, for God's sake," Quinn huffed, and grabbed my waist, pulling me in for a kiss, which I returned with a slight smile, throwing my arms around her neck,

"Wanky," Santana mumbled from the back,

Artie wolf-whistled and Sam joined in, an enthusiastic, though slow and confused clap sounding from our peers,

Quinn pulled away after a moment, and we stood awaiting the hoard of questions coming our way,

To my surprise, most people didn't look surprised at all,

"Hold on, what the hell just happened?" Mercedes exclaimed incredulously,

"I think that the kiss spoke for itself Wheezy," Santana replied, slightly defensively,

"You guys are dating?!" She squealed, "Oh my god! How did I miss that?!" She jumped up and gave Quinn and I a hug, which I accepted gratefully,

"Why are you not more surprised, Santana?" I asked her confusedly, "I mean, your best friend is suddenly gay and dating me, and you just accept that?"

Quinn looked away guiltily, and several of the Glee club members started looking around the room, avoiding eye contact with me, including Mr Schue, and Miss Pillsbury (when did she even get there?),

"Hang on," I said, holding my hands out, as if to demonstrate my point, "Everybody just wait a minute,"

Tina wouldn't look at me, neither would Kurt, and Brittany was just smiling sweetly in the front row,

I sighed, "Everybody, raise your hand if you already knew about me and Quinn," I instructed,

Artie coughed awkwardly, before raising his hand in the air,

Tina followed, smiling guiltily at me,

After that, one by one, Brittany, Santana, Kurt, Sam, who was next to Kurt, Mr Schue, Miss Pillsbury and raised their hands,

"I kind of guessed," Sam admitted guiltily, looking at Kurt,

I cleared my throat expectantly,

"Britts and I found out on our own, then we confronted Quinn about it," Santana admitted,

"You knew they knew?!" I whisper incredulously to Quinn, who took a step back with her hands up,

"Well?" I prompted, looking at the glee club,

"I found out on my own," Tina answered, "I confronted Quinn about it," She added,

"I also found out on my own, just after the accident," Artie admitted, "And talked to Quinn about it,"

I looked at Kurt next,

"To be honest, I knew about it for a while," He answered, "You, Rachel, kept on throwing me off the trail, but eventually I clued in, and confronted Quinn about it," He added, much like the people before him,

"A lot of people confronted Quinn," I stated,

I turned to Mr Schue, "Hey, don't look at me!" He insisted, "Sue really can't keep secrets," He defended, "Plus, you guys can be a little obvious sometimes," He added thoughtfully,

"Right," I answered, feeling a little lost,

"I mostly knew because of Quinn, after the accident," Miss Pillsbury explained, "She needed a lot of counselling and then Sue confirmed it,"

"Most of us knew before you did," Tina added, and Artie 'sshed' her,

"Quinn, a word?" I said curtly, walking out of the room, Quinn following closely behind,

"You're not mad, are you?" She asked carefully,

"Why didn't you tell me that everybody knew?" I asked her softly,

She laughed, not as warm as her usual laugh, but colder, humourless, "I was a mess after our accident," She admitted, "More than you know, and I needed some help, or support, I guess. I think it was Artie that found out first, I kind of told him everything, though he suspected. After that, others found out and confronted me about it, there was no lying to them. They already knew, so I admitted it,"

I let that information sink in. The pain in her eyes was intensely obvious, and it pained me to see, "That doesn't answer why you didn't tell me," I pointed out,

"I wasn't sure if you were ready to come out," She continued, "So, when we started dating, I didn't want you to be upset because people knew. I could trust those who knew, so I thought it would be better kept a secret," She shrugged,

"I'm not mad, Quinn," I told her, "I promise, I'm just a bit shocked I guess,"

There was a click of a camera, and I whirled around to see JBI standing there with his camera and a microphone,

"Care to comment on this recent rumours regarding a romantic 'Faberry'?" He questioned, holding out his microphone,

"Two things," Quinn said, her Head Bitch persona kicking in, "One; yes, I am dating Rachel Berry and we are very happy together," She said concisely, "Two; you're not going to want to use that picture," She added, before once again pulling me in for a kiss,

We heard the camera click, and pulled apart,

"We good here?" She checked,

JBI nodded,

"Good, go," She ordered,

He scrambled off, and Quinn smiled at me,

I took a deep breath, "It's going to be all over the school tomorrow,"

"Come on, let's go and convince your Dad not to kill me," Quinn said,

"What about the Glee club?" I asked, pointing back to the Choir room,

"Eh, they can text us any questions," She shrugged, "I want to spend the night with my girlfriend,"

"Okay," I agreed, "To my house!" I cheered sarcastically.

* * *

I looked across the table at Quinn, who was eating silently,

There was a huge clang from my Dad as he cut through a tough bit of meat (Daddy cooked meat for himself, Quinn and Dad),

"So," I started, putting my cutlery down,

I think they already knew what was happening, and Dad just raised an eyebrow at me,

Quinn coughed awkwardly,

"Quinn and I have something to tell you both," I declared,

"Rach," Quinn said, and she smiled at me tightly, "Are you sure it's a good idea to do this when there are steak knives at the table?" She asked nervously, smiling politely at my dads,

I looked at my Dad, who was twirling his knife between his fingers,

"Right," I agreed,

I stood up from the table and walked over to my daddy, who passed his knife to me, then I took Quinn's from her. I walked over to my dad, who looked at me innocently,

"Ahem," I said pointedly,

He gave me the knife with a slight sigh,

"Right," I said after I had put the knifes in the kitchen, "Quinn and I have something to tell you both,"

"Go on," Daddy prompted gently,

"Well, I guess two things, but they go hand in hand," I pondered,

"And?" He pressed,

"Rachel and I are dating!" Quinn declared loudly, making an elaborate hand gesture and taking a sip from her glass,

"Right, we said tact remember, so next time, a little quieter," I suggested, and Quinn blushed,

"That's lovely, isn't it Hiram?" Daddy said politely, pointedly looking at Dad,

"We love having you here Quinn," Dad answered tightly, "As long as the door stays open," He added thoughtfully,

I squealed, and ran over to give Dad a hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed,

He smiled, and returned the hug,

Daddy tapped his fork on his glass, "A toast!" He declared, "Faberry forever!" He chanted, using Quinn and I's couple name,

I shrugged and looked at Quinn, picking up my glass, "To us?" I checked,

"Here's to us," She agreed, tapping her glass to mine, then my fathers'.

* * *

I walked over to my locker at lunch and was trying to open it when someone spoke from behind me,

"Hey," A guy greeted from behind me, and I turned around,

"Hello," I greeted back politely,

"I'm I saw the article on the school blog," He told me, "Smokin'," He whistled,

"Um, I'm sorry, who are you?" I replied, unsure where this guy was heading,

"Josh Coleman, Sophomore rugby Captain," He introduced, "Girls like you are a challenge," He explained arrogantly, "You just need the right guy to straighten you out,"

I stared at him in shock, "Uh,"

"Move your busted, creeper ass," Mercedes said strongly from behind me,

"Now," Tina added to clarify,

I turned to see that all of the glee girls, including Quinn, were behind me,

"Easy girls," He said, "I'm just trying to make her normal,"

"She is normal," Brittany defended,

"It's not her choice, idiot, but if it were, you'd be her last choice," Quinn said, disdain clear in her voice,

I smiled at Quinn's protective side coming out,

"Oh, I get it, you're all a bunch of lesbos now," He said rudely,

"Oh, so what if we are, asshole, you don't stand a chance either way," Santana defended,

Perfect opportunity for a song, I clapped my hands and the music started,

**Me (Quinn):**

This was never the way I planned,  
(Not my intention)  
I got so brave, drink in hand  
(Lost my discretion)

I ran over to Quinn and gave her a kiss on the cheek,

It's not what  
(I'm used to)  
Just wanna try you on  
(I'm curious for you)

The glee girls danced down the hallway, swinging our hips and draping ourselves over people we passed,

 **Me and Quinn:  
** Caught my attention

I looked at Quinn and she nodded, so we made our way into the cafeteria,

 **Me and Quinn with the Girls:  
** I kissed a girl and I liked it,  
 **(Quinn:**  The taste of her cherry chapstick)  
I kissed a girl just to try it,  
 **(Rachel:**  I hope my boyfriend don't mind it)

We jumped up onto one of the bigger tables and started a semi-choreographed dance routine,

It felt so wrong, it felt so right,  
Don't mean I'm in love tonight  
I kissed a girl and I liked it,  
I liked it

We stood in a circle facing outwards and continued dancing,

Us girls we are so magical,  
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable  
Hard to resist, so touchable  
Too good to deny it  
Ain't no big deal;

 **Me:  
** It's innocent

There seemed to be a mixed response in the crowd. Some people were obviously finding it hot to see a group of girls dancing together in the way that we were, but there were still looks of disgust on some faces. I tried not to let that bother me too much,

**Me and Quinn with the Girls:**

I kissed a girl and I liked it,  
(Quinn: The taste of her cherry chapstick)  
I kissed a girl just to try it,  
(Me: I hope my boyfriend don't mind it)  
It felt so wrong; it felt so right,  
Don't mean I'm in love tonight  
I kissed a girl, and I liked it,

 **Me and Quinn:  
** I liked it

We jumped off of the table and a group of cheerleaders and jocks approached us, headed by Azimio Adams,

We suddenly weren't feeling as brave as we did, and we took a couple of steps back from the group,

"What do you reckon Az?" A nameless jock asked from the second row,

"I think we need to teach these gleeks a lesson," Azimio answered threateningly,

"Hey!" Sam called out loudly from somewhere behind us, walking up to Azimio and putting us behind him, Kurt following him closely,

"You got a problem with them, you got a problem with me," He threatened,

"Sam," I said warningly,

"No, I am so done with this school!" He practically shouted, directed to the audience in the cafeteria,

"What are you talking about?" Azimio questioned,

"I kissed a boy, and I liked it!" He declared, twisting the words of the song and pulling Kurt for a kiss,

The glee kids all looked momentarily surprised, but they covered it up quickly,

"What, you think we won't beat you up too?" He mocked,

More voices entered the conversation,

"You can't take us all Az," Finn warned,

"You have to go through all of us first," Mike added,

All the Glee guys were standing in front of us now,

"But, you're not gay," Azimio pointed out, as if we hadn't realised,

"No," Finn agreed, "But my brother is, and I love him. I've made the mistake of not standing up for him before, I'm not about to do that again. Love is love,"

Kurt smiled at his brother,

Azimio huffed and threw his hands up, admitting defeat and walking away,

The Glee kids all cheered, that hadn't turned out so bad afterall.


	17. Glory Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry this upload took so long, hope you enjoy it, please comment if you do and I'll see you on the other side!

**Quinn's POV**

I looked at the last envelope in shock. I walked backwards until my legs hit the edge of my bed, and I sat down on the mattress.

"I didn't get in," I muttered to myself, "To any of them,"

I had ignored Rachel's plan and decided to open my letters on my own. All of them had said the same thing 'We regret to inform you...'. I stopped reading after that.

I had no idea what I was going to tell Rachel. I didn't get into any of the colleges I applied for. It looked like I was going to be staying in Lima for the rest of my life. Great.

Sophie chose that moment to walk into my room, without knocking, of course. I wiped my eyes and smiled at her,

"Hey, Soph," I greeted,

"Don't act like you weren't just crying," She told me, very sagely for a girl her age,

I chuckled slightly, "You know me too well,"

"What's wrong?" She asked, sitting next to me on my bed,

I showed her the letters in my hand, "I didn't get in,"

"To any of them?" She asked incredulously,

"Not one," I affirmed,

She winced, "I'm sorry,"

"Yep," I agreed, lying down on the bed in defeat, "What am I going to do?" I asked her rhetorically,

"You have to tell Rachel," She told me, lying next to me and putting her head on my shoulder,

"I know," I agreed, "I just don't know how,"

"Just, tell it to her straight," Sophie suggested,

"It's easier said than done," I told her sadly, "This will destroy her."

Sophie just nodded thoughtfully, no doubt unsure as to how to comfort me.

* * *

Rachel was sat on her bed, and I was pacing her room,

"Well," I prompted, "Open it!" I exclaimed,

"What about us opening our letters together?" She asked,

I still hadn't told her about my letters. I was waiting for the right moment, and something told me this wasn't it,

"Well, I don't have mine yet, so let's just open yours! Come on! I can't take the suspense!'' I squeaked,

"Okay, okay!" She exclaimed, holding her hands up to stop me talking, "God, I'm really nervous," She moaned, and she buried her head in her hands,

"Just open it," I urged her, in all honesty not sure what I wanted to be in that envelope,

She blew out a big breath and raised the letter in front of her, hands shaking as she tried to open it,

I wanted to close my eyes, but I also wanted to be there for Rachel regardless of what it said, so I forced them open,

She shakily pulled the letter up and out of the envelope and looked at it fearfully, her glance shifting to me after a second, showing no emotion,

"I got in," She whispered, probably more to herself than me,

She got in,

"You got in?" I clarified,

She smiled broadly, "I got in!" She squeaked, "I'm going to NYADA!"

"You're going to NYADA!?" I squeaked back, running forward and jumping on her to give her a hug, which she managed to accept without being knocked over,

"I got in!" She repeated, "Oh my God!"

"Oh my God! You're going to New York!" I squealed,

"I'm going to New York!" She screamed,

"You're going to New York?" LeRoy asked, appearing in the doorway and cautiously glancing in, Hiram peeking out from behind him,

Rachel held her letter up and squealed, "I'm going to NEW YORK!"

She ran over to her dads and gave them a hug,

I kind of felt like I was intruding on a private moment, so I made to look away,

"Quinn," LeRoy said warningly,

"Mr Berry..?" I replied cautiously,

"Stop scaring her, honey," Hiram scolded, and he held his arm out,

I looked at it confusedly,

"Never heard of a hug before, Quinn?" Rachel teased,

I walked over to them cautiously and joined the group hug,

"We're going to New York, Quinn," Rachel said proudly, her voice slightly muffled,

"Yeah, Rach, we are," I replied, not looking anybody in the eye.

I was sure I'd figure something out. First things first, I had to tell Rachel about my  _lack of_  acceptance letters.

* * *

A week later, I was standing outside Rachel's house as I had decided that this needed to be done sooner than later. The door to Rachel's house swung open and though I had told myself to use tact, all thoughts of that flew out of the window as soon as I saw Rachel standing there,

"I didn't get in!" I blurted out, wincing after I'd realised what I'd said,

"What do you mean?" She asked confusedly, obviously not quite getting my point,

I opened my eyes and saw her standing on her doorstep, looking beautiful, wearing trackies with her hair up in a messy bun. The sight, stupidly, made me tear up,

"I didn't get in, Rachel, to any of them," I explained, my voice breaking a bit,

She didn't say anything, she just looked confused, and sad,

"I thought you said you didn't have any of your letters," She said, looking perhaps a tiny bit hurt, but mostly concerned, and she motioned for me to follow her inside,

"I'm so sorry, Rach," I apologised, getting more and more upset, "I got them last week, and I opened them, to be honest, I don't even know why I did that, I mean it's not like-"

"Honey, you're rambling," She interrupted softly,

I shook myself slightly, "Right, sorry," I apologised, but she just motioned for me to continue as she walked into the kitchen, grabbing the milk and hot chocolate,

"I didn't get into any of them," I repeated, for what seemed like the millionth time since I had received my letters, "Well, I got into the Community College," I laughed bitterly,

I saw Rachel's hands shaking as she attempted to open the hot chocolate, so I walked over and opened it for her,

"Thank you," She said quietly,

I could tell that she was upset by the news, and it always hurt me to see her upset. She busied herself with making the hot chocolate, so I continued speaking,

"Look, Rachel, your life is in New York. You've got Kurt, Tina, even Puckerman managed to transfer his pool-cleaning business," I joked,

She smiled fondly at that, but it was gone as quick as it came,

"And, come on, you got into NYADA! The single most prestigious Dramatic Arts school in the world!" I exclaimed proudly, and it made Rachel smile, "You have to go," I said firmly,

The microwave beeped, but Rachel ignored it, or maybe she didn't hear it. She just stared forward, tilting her head in confusion,

"Are you, breaking up with me?" She asked confusedly, incredulity creeping into her voice,

I winced at her tone, "I'm letting you go," I said carefully, "You and I both know that we couldn't make a long distance relationship work," I reasoned,

"Couldn't?" She repeated incredulously, "Or won't?"

I chose to ignore that in order to properly get my point across,

"Rachel," I started, walking up to her and taking her hands in mine, trying to look at her, but she looked away, "You are destined for such great things," I told her firmly, "Broadway, the Big Screen," I continued, "I can't be the one that holds you back in New York. You know how bad that would make me feel? Imagine if you didn't reach your full potential because I held you back," I implored, "I would never forgive myself,"

She brushed away a couple of tears, "I'm a grown woman, Quinn," She told me, "That's not your decision to make. You give me the facts, then  _I_  make the choice," She said firmly, "You won't be holding me back. I'll just defer my acceptance for one year, then, we can go to New York together,"

"Rachel," I said weakly,

"No," She interrupted, 'I love you so much. I'm staying."

I figured there was no arguing with her at that point. Plus, it wouldn't be so bad, would it?

"Okay," I agreed begrudgingly, and she smiled, "One more year,"

"One more year," She affirmed, "I love you, Q,"

I smiled, "I love you too,"

She wiped under her eyes, "Right," She laughed, clapping her hands, "Hot chocolate?"

"I'd love one," I agreed, and she walked over to heat them up again,

We'd be okay for one year, right?  _She'd_  be okay,  _right?_

* * *

It was officially a week until graduation. All of our end of year exams, tests and activities were coming to a close. Everybody was still stressing about marks, but we had mostly finished with all that stuff. Saying that, while everybody else was worried about marks and college, I was worried about Rachel.

I knew that she said that she was going to be okay, and she did seem really happy. My opinion was that she genuinely thought she was going to be okay, but she was lying to herself.

"You're thinking too loud Baby Mama," Puck said as he sat down opposite me,

"I came here for peace and quiet, you know," I grumbled,

"Where's Rachel at?" He asked, ignoring my comment,

"She's talking to Mr Schuester," I told him, "I think she wanted to talk to him about helping out with Glee club next year,"

"She told me about that, you know," He told me, shifting in his chair to get comfortable,

"Why am I not surprised?" I laughed softly, "It's okay, I don't mind her telling anyone,"

I really  _didn't_  mind. I knew that she shared Kurt, Tina and Puck, plus, Kurt probably told Sam, and then-

"You're worrying too much," He said softly, "You have to let Rachel do this,"

"I know her Puck, sometimes better she than she knows herself, I don't want her to ruin her life for me. What would you do?" I asked him pointedly, "If your insanely talented girlfriend that you were desperately in love with was going to put her life on hold just so you could be together!?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, a weird look for Puckerman,

"I would screw some random chick, then I would break with her, then I would run away, out of her life, forever," He decided,

"See!" I exclaimed, but Puck held up a hand to silence me,

"Just because I'd do it, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. In fact," He said thoughtfully, "It's probably the opposite. I would run, because I am a coward, Quinn. Scared of feelings, commitment, the whole thing," He admitted, waving his hands to prove his point, "You are so much better than that Fabray, and you know that,"

"I don't know, that that's a thing, that I know!" I objected, only realising how stupid I sounded after I spoke, a painful few seconds too late,

"Let Rachel make her own decisions," He said, almost in warning, before walking off. Presumably to give me some time to think, or to go pick up one last Cheerio before graduation.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you McKinley High's class of 2012!"

The crowd was roaring,

"We did it!" Someone shouted in my ear, and I turned around to give Brittany, then Santana, a hug,

I saw Rachel laughing with Tina and Puck and made my way towards them,

"We did it, Rach!" I shouted over the noise,

She came and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, "I am so proud of you," She whispered in my ear,

"I'm proud of you too," I replied sincerely,

Let's be real, I was still having major doubts about the idea of Rachel and I staying in Lima for a year. I mean, the girl got into NYADA! That was a big achievement and she just wanted to defer her acceptance? I was worried that I could end up holding Rachel back forever and that she would never go to NYADA. Rachel not going could lead to her resenting me for holding her back in the long run, and I wasn't sure if I could be responsible for that.

"Who wants Breadsticks?" Santana called out from somewhere behind us,

Breadsticks, that was a good idea. Maybe it would help take my mind off of Rachel.

* * *

"Quinn," Rachel whispered after we got to the hotel room late that night, around midnight, "I'm ready," She told me,

I paused in the doorway of her room, "Ready for...?" I prompted, completely oblivious to what she meant,

"You know," She told me, pulling on my jacket, "It,"

Let me start by saying that was  _not_  what I was trying to achieve by booking a hotel room. I swear I didn't have ulterior motives.

"It being...?" I said nervously,

"It!" She exclaimed, "Come on!" She whined, "We're all alone, in this fancy hotel room, and I'm ready," She whispered, shrugging off her jacket and folding it on the chair,

"Are you sure...?" I queried, "Like, really sure?"

"Come on, Quinn, I don't want to wait until I get my memories back because that could be never!" She insisted, "I love you now, regardless of what happened in my past," She assured me,

"Are you sure...?" I clarified,

"Quinn," Rachel laughed, "I'm sure, just, let me, let  _us_ , do this,"

She kissed me softly, "You know you wanna..." She said in a sing-song voice,

I kissed her back, "I do wanna," I replied with a smile,

She pushed me back towards the bed, stepping out of her dress, "So,"

I unzipped my own dress, "So..."

She stepped towards me, "You ready?" She checked,

I nodded, "You?"

She nodded,

"Right," I nodded, "So..."

* * *

I woke up to Rachel sitting on top of me and shaking me,

"You okay?" I asked concernedly, flicking the light on,

"Did ya miss me?" She asked in a soft, playful tone,

"Where'd you go?" I asked sleepily, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to make myself more awake,

"I said, did you miss me?" She repeated, kissing my neck,

I sat up as if I had been burnt, just managing to not knock her off of me,

"Are- did- are you-" I stuttered, not quite able to form a sentence,

She nodded and smiled softly, "Hey, Q," She greeted,

"Rach?" I replied, my voice breaking slightly,

"I'm back!" She cheered softly,

I smiled, "God, I missed you," I whispered, hugging her tight,

"I love you so much," She told me, "Thank you for never giving up on us," She whispered, giving me a soft kiss,

A couple of tears ran down my face, they were happy tears, but still painful,

"It's okay, Q," She assured me, sounding teary herself, "I'm okay,"

"I love you," I told her firmly, hugging her tighter, "So, so much,"

"I think it happened after..." She trailed off, "My head started hurting a lot, I think I might have passed out..." She said thoughtfully,

"So," I started in a teasing tone, "All that was stopping you from getting your memories back was the fact that Rachel Berry is a prude?"

She hit my shoulder, "Personally, I think it made our relationship stronger," She said with a sniff,

"Miss High and Mighty," I teased,

She climbed off of me, "We should tell my dads!" She decided, quite loudly, 

I rubbed my ear, "There  _are_  other people in this room, you know,"

She slipped on her dress and coat, "Come on!" She insisted,

"It's like," I checked the clock, "2 am," I groaned,

She looked at me pointedly,

I sighed, "I'm up, I'm up," I told her, sitting up and getting my own clothes on,

"They'll still be up," She assured me, "There was a big musical marathon on TV tonight,"

It was a fairly short ride from the hotel to the Berry's, and Rachel seemed to be right, as the lights were on in their house,

"Come on," She said, dragging me to the front door, "They are going to be so excited,"

"Shouldn't we..." I said as she opened the door, "Knock..."

We saw her parents, who were, just as Rachel had said, watching the musical marathon,

She marched into their living room,

"I am madly in love with Quinn Fabray and nothing you can do or say will change my mind!" She declared,

LeRoy looked plain confused, "We know, honey," He told her, "Did she hit her head again?" He asked, directed at myself and Hiram,

I held up my hands "Nothing to do with me," I said defensively,

Hiram's face lit up, "You mean you-" He checked,

Rachel nodded,

"Honey, she remembers!" Hiram exclaimed,

"Is that what you were supposed to tell us that night?" LeRoy clarified,

Rachel nodded, and I looked away awkwardly,

"The same thing you said you had nothing to do with?" He asked me, sounding  _extremely_  unimpressed,

"No?" I replied questioningly,

"Daaaad," Rachel called out warningly,

"Yeah, yeah," LeRoy grumbled,

"On another note, I got my memory back!" She squealed,

"Oh, sweetie," Hiram walked over to give her a hug, "It's good to have you back," LeRoy joined them,

We stayed up for a few hours after that, Rachel clarifying things about our past that I had tried, but failed to do.

Me? I was  _still_  thinking about the horrible mistake I was about to make.

* * *

A couple of weeks after school had officially finished, I was still conflicted. I hated it. I hated constantly feeling like I was doing the wrong thing,  _knowing,_  that I was doing the wrong thing.

It was early one morning, around 3 am or so when I woke up. I couldn't sleep. I had a nightmare in which Rachel and I got a divorce, which wasn't very pleasant. No, I needed to do this. I couldn't let Rachel ruin her life for me like this. I wouldn't allow it.

I picked up my phone, googled the number I was looking for, and dialled it without considering the time,

"Hello," I greeted when it went to voicemail, using my very best acting skills to tell the person I had reached what I wanted, then, scribbling stuff down on a piece of paper I found.

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

For some reason, (I didn't quite know why), I woke up before my alarm. I groaned and looked at the alarm, 6:45, a good hour before I was set to wake up. I sat up, curious as to what had woken me. It wasn't cold, or hot, and there were no alarming noises outside. Then I realised, and I looked to my right. Quinn wasn't there,

"Quinn?" I called out, trying to be rational, "Honey?"

No answer.

"Q?" I called out again, hopping out of bed and walking out of my bedroom,

There was a sinking feeling in my stomach and for some irrational reason, I just  _knew_  something was wrong.

"Quinn?!" I called out, much louder this time, running downstairs to check the kitchen,

Nobody was there.

"Honey, are you alright?" The voice made me jump, I turned around to see my daddy looking at me worriedly,

I couldn't even answer him at that point, I just ran back upstairs, checking the bathrooms and my bedroom.

Then, I saw a piece of paper on my desk, one that I couldn't remember leaving there. I ran over to my desk and flipped the paper over, gasping as I saw the words scribbled on it.

"Honey?" Dad asked from the doorway, concern creeping into his voice,

"She's gone." I muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it?? Did ya?? I did. But maybe I'm biased... Anyway... If you would like to see exclusive updates and previews about my stories I have a twitter account @L_GleeStories, so feel free to check it out!


	18. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again! So, the last chapter was... Interesting... We are going to look at Rachel's POV for lots of this chapter, as Quinn is currently MIA... I'm still, at this point, unsure as to what happened to Quinn, but I can assure you that she hasn't been kidnapped. You're welcome. As usual, I hope you enjoy this chapter, please comment if you do, and I'll see you on the other side! -Lauren's Glee Stories

**Rachel's POV**

Judy sighed and hung up the phone, looking tired.

"What did they say?" I demanded,

Judy sat down on the couch opposite me, "They said that because she is an adult, she has the right to disappear," She huffed,

"What does that even mean?" I huffed exasperatedly,

"It means, that they will put out a missing persons report, but they won't actively try to find her, because she is allowed to run away," Ms Fabray explained patiently,

"But-" I tried to object,

"Rachel, the circumstances in which Quinn ran away aren't suspicious, which means there is nothing we can do until she contacts us," Judy said firmly, but not unkindly,

I put my hand over my mouth in a feeble attempt to muffle the sound of my crying, it didn't work. Quinn had run away. From me, from her friends and family. Nobody knew where she was. The note she left was horrible.

Santana, I thought suddenly. I wiped my nose and eyes with my sleeve,

"Santana," I muttered,

"What about her?" Judy asked,

At some point when I was crying, Ms Fabray had moved next to me in an attempt to offer some comfort, which I appreciated,

"Santana didn't show up at the meeting," I said slowly, "Everybody else from Glee was there,"

"Do you think she knows where Quinn is?" She asked hopefully,

I tilted my head, "Maybe..." I answered, "I'm going to pay her a visit,"

Judy nodded, "Do you want me to go with you?" She offered,

I shook my head, "No, I'll be alright. It might be better for me to go alone," I decided, "But thank you for offering," I added, giving her a quick hug,

"Drive safe," Judy said in farewell, allowing me to make my own way out.

I arrived at the Lopez residence not too long after, to a scene of what looked like barely organised chaos, and that was just the outside. There were three of four cars that I recognised on the driveway, plus what I assumed to be Santana's parent's cars. Then, the front door was wide open, and I could hear shouting from within.

I briefly debated whether I should go in or not, but I put the car in park and got out, hoping that I wouldn't regret it.

I cautiously walked up the driveway, curious about what was inside, after all, I did love drama, and  _this_  was dramatic.

I knocked on the door softly, but only succeeded in pushing it further open, so I walked in.

"Hello?" I called out, "It's Rachel, from Glee?"

The voices seemed to be coming from ahead, so I walked forward, but not before taking my shoes off and putting my bag down, I was polite after all.

"God, Santana you need to get your act together!" Someone said firmly,

That was definitely Kurt, I would recognise that voice anywhere. Santana was yelling back at him in Spanish, which I couldn't clearly understand.

"Santana," A softer voice interrupted, "Just tell us," She implored,

And that was Tina. Was this some kind of secret Glee meeting she wasn't invited to? Could they even have Glee meetings now that they had graduated?

God, the hallway seemed never-ending.

"Santana, this is important!" Puck exclaimed,

"What's important?" I asked as I walked into the room, finally,

I saw five guilty faces staring back at me, plus Santana, whom I'm not sure is capable of guilt,

I looked at them pointedly,

"Look, Berry, I don't know anything about your girlfriend," Santana said vehemently,

I was more than a little disappointed at that, "You don't?"

"No!" She insisted, "Look, I am pissed off at Fabray for just up and leaving you like that!" She exclaimed, "I have been calling her three-four times every hour since she disappeared to tell her to get her act together! I have texted her, I've left voicemails, I've even emailed her! Who the hell even uses email anymore?!" She shouted, starting to get a little hysterical,

"San," Brittany reprimanded gently, "We know you're stressed, everybody is. Lord Tubbington is going grey," She informed us all, very wisely,

"I'm not stressed!" She insisted, "I'm pissed off! I know she's okay, that's not bothering me. What's bothering me, is the fact that she up and left her girlfriend, friends and family in the blink of an eye!"

"Sorry, Santana," Kurt apologised quietly from next to Sam,

Puck nodded at her, I guess that was his way of apologising, and she nodded back,

"Alright," I said, "Quinn dumped me in a note, told no one and ran away. Who wants ice-cream?" I asked with a big smile,

The group looked at each other nervously,

"Well?" I asked in a shrill voice,

"I want ice-cream," Kurt agreed quickly,

The others murmured in agreement,

"Yeah, I want ice-cream too," Sam decided, agreeing with his boyfriend,

"Great!" I clapped, "Allons-y!"

I marched out of the room,

"She's lost the plot," I heard Sam mutter from behind me, before he, Kurt, and the rest of the group followed suit,

Yeah, maybe I had.

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

I leaned my head against the cool glass. The vibrations rang through my head, but I wasn't paying attention to them. I was thinking about Rachel. I knew that I had made the right decision

* * *

_**...Flashback-Night Quinn Left...** _

_"Hello?" I answered when the call went to voicemail, "This is Rachel Berry, I'm calling to inform you that I no longer wish to defer my acceptance into the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. If you could get back to me as soon as possible, that would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you,"_

_I hung up the phone and cleared my throat. They would call the number back within a few days, then, I would successfully un-defer (you know what I mean) Rachel's acceptance, then, inform them that I had changed my contact details, and change the number to Rachel's. Problem sorted._

_I looked at the paper in front of me. Next step, writing the note for Rachel._

_**Dear Rachel,** _

_**I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore.** _

_**Quinn, xxx,** _

_Short and sweet, just like Rachel. No, don't think like that._

_It was vague as well. Nothing that would give away what I actually intended to do. If it didn't work out, Rachel would be none the wiser._

_I looked at Rachel sadly, and then Lucy, who was wagging her tail and looking at me expectantly. She must have woken up when I did._

_I walked over to the wardrobe and took my stuff out, plus one of Rachel's jumpers. She never wore it anyway, she wouldn't know it was missing. I packed it all in my bag, the same one I took to the hotel. It wasn't overly big, just some duffel bag, but it would do._

_After I had packed everything that I usually kept at Rachel's, I looked at the bag, tilting my head at it,_

_"You're really doing this, aren't you?" I asked myself with a shake of my head,_

_I took out one of my own jumpers and placed it back in Rachel's wardrobe, at the back under a pile of clothes. She'd find it eventually._

_Then, I went over to Rachel, who was sleeping very peacefully. I wasn't surprised, after all, it had been a long day, and she usually slept quite soundly._

_I kissed her forehead softly, and took a step back. Time was of the essence._

_"Lucy!" I whispered in an excited tone, "Come here, girl,"_

_She bounded over to me, tilting her head slightly,_

_"You need to look after Rachel, okay?" I asked her, "Can you do that?!"_

_Needless to say, the dog didn't respond._

_"Right," I coughed awkwardly, "I love you," I told her, kissing her nose, and I picked up my bag, walking out of the room and shutting the door softly,_

_I crept down the stairs and out of the Berry's house without issues. Next stop; my house._

_**...End Flashback...** _

* * *

I made it to my house easily enough, all I had to do was call a cab to get me there. I told him to wait outside while I cleaned out my room. It was expensive, but I had no other way to get around, besides, there was plenty of money in my bank account from my parent's divorce.

I had taken all of my little belongings; clothes, toiletries, photos etc. I left the rest. In the end, I had all of my important possessions in one duffle bag, a big back pack, and a suitcase.

Someone coughed from behind me, startling me and making me more aware of my surroundings.

I knew I had done the right thing. Well, I was pretty sure, anyway. Maybe I had the right intentions, but I went the wrong way about it? No. It was the right thing to do. Rachel would be fine. Me? I would survive. For now, at least.

I didn't have a concrete plan, but I knew where I was headed. It was just the journey I was unsure about.

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

"Who was it?" Kurt asked curiously, and the others in the room all looked to me,

I shook my head and placed my phone back in my pocket, "That was NYADA," I managed, "They said they were looking forward to seeing me,"

"Isn't that, like, a year away?" Noah asked confusedly,

"No, they said they were looking forward to seeing me in the fall..." I rephrased,

Tina looked especially confused, but Kurt's jaw dropped,

"What do you mean, in the fall?" Kurt asked to clarify,

"Apparently, I left them a voicemail saying that I no longer wanted to defer my acceptance, and that I was looking to attend in the fall," I explained, "This fall,"

To say I was shocked when I got the call from NYADA was a huge understatement. I wasn't expecting to hear  _anything_  from NYADA for  _at least_  a year.

Sam's eyes widened in realisation, "Quinn called them," He said slowly,

The group looked at him curiously and he stood up,

"Think about it," He invited, "Rachel was going to not go to NYADA so that she could be with Quinn. Then, she leaves, and leaves behind a note. Obviously, she thought she was going to hold Rachel back, even if she ended up attending NYADA next year,"

"He's right," Santana agreed, "That definitely sounds like something Quinn would do,"

Over the past week, l had found an unlikely ally in Santana. Santana was angrier about what Quinn did than I was, almost as if she was taking my emotions so I didn't have to feel them. As weird as it sounded, I was grateful for it.

"What are you going to do?" Tina asked softly, obviously not wanting to push me either way,

I threw my hands up and sat down on the couch,

"I have to go," I decided, "Everybody I love is going to be in New York, all of you are going. There's nothing in Lima for me anymore," I realised sadly, "Apart from my dads,"

"And Lucy," Tina reminded,

"Lucy's coming with me," I said instantly, "I'm not leaving her here. My dads are wonderful, but I'm not sure if they'd have the time to look after her,"

Tina nodded in agreement,

"All I have to do is drive up with her," I shrugged, "It's what, 10 hours?" I queried,

Kurt nodded, "I'll go with you," He said decisively,

"So will I," Tina offered excitedly, "It can be like a road trip!"

"When were you guys all leaving?" I queried,

"I'm staying here for a couple of weeks, tying up loose ends and what not," Puck replied,

"Same," Sam nodded in agreement,

"We'll leave whenever you want to," Tina told me, and Kurt nodded,

"I just need to pack all my things," I decided.

* * *

That night, I drove to the lake where Quinn and I had our first date. As I sat on the grass, watching the sunset, I could practically hear the music playing in the background, and I couldn't help but break down completely. I steeled myself just enough to be able to sing,

**(Rachel)**

**(A/N: Song: Kelly Clarkson-Cry, featured on Glee, sung by Rachel)**

_If anyone asks,_

_I'll tell them we both just moved on_

I shook my head sadly. I never wanted to portray Quinn as a bad person. To anyone who didn't know the full story, I would leave it at that.

_When people all stare_

_I'll pretend that I don't hear them talk_

_Whenever I see you,_

_I'll swallow my pride_

_And bite my tongue_

That was assuming I ever did see her again. I didn't know if I would, or if I even wanted to. I had no idea what my reaction would be if I did see her.

_Pretend I'm okay with it all_

_Act like there's nothing wrong_

I stood up and ran to the edge to the edge of the water, tears streaming down my face as I sang the chorus of the song that resonated so deeply with me.

_Is it over yet?_

_Can I open my eyes?_

_Is this as hard as it gets?_

_Is this what it feels like to really cry?_

_Cry!_

I sang the next part as strongly as I could, though I was minutes from having a major breakdown.

_I'm talking in circles_

_I'm lying, they know it_

_Why won't this just all go..._

_...Away!_

I whispered the next couple of lines,

_Is it over yet?_

_Can I open my eyes?_

I finished strongly, putting all of my emotion into the lyrics.

_Is this as hard as it gets?_

_Is this what it feels like to really cry?_

_Cry!_

_Cry!_

"Rachel?" A voice called out from behind me,

I turned around and saw Quinn's mom standing behind me. I choked back a sob and ran towards her, throwing my arms around her and letting all the tears come streaming out. My body was heaving with the strength of my sobbing and eventually I fell to the ground, struggling to breathe as I cried. Judy just knelt down next to me, wrapping her arms around me firmly, allowing a few of her own tears to run down her face,

"Shhhhhh, I know," She whispered into my hair, "It's going to be alright," She assured me, "Everything will be alright."

I knew it would be, deep down, sometimes it's hard to believe in the moment, though.

* * *

I went home that day and prepared to pack up everything from my room. I called Kurt over to help me, as his organisational skills would come in handy.

"So," He said, "I called a moving company that moves across country, and they gave me a good price, so we have a truck that is going to take everybody's stuff from Lima to New York, and it will stop by at everyone's place to drop their stuff off," He explained, "So, we all have a lot of space,"

I nodded, "So you and Sam found a place?" I asked conversationally,

Kurt nodded proudly, "It's in Bushwick, it's literally right opposite Santana and Brittany's place, and two blocks from your apartment,"

I smiled, "I can't wait to be in New York,"

He nodded in agreement, "I've been dreaming of getting out of Lima almost my entire life,"

"And?" I prompted,

He shook his head, "I'm going to miss it," He admitted,

I didn't know if I was going to miss Lima. My dream was almost always to go to New York, and now that Quinn and I weren't together, it was proving more painful to stay in Lima than to leave.

"Who's this?" He asked curiously, grabbing toy Lucy from my bed,

"It's uh, Lucy," I mumbled, "I'm keeping her,"

"Where'd you get her?" He asked, inspecting her tag and collar,

"Daddy won it for me at a show," I lied, grabbing the toy from him and pulling her close,

The truth is, I still cuddled Lucy at night because she smelt like Quinn. Cheesy, I know, but I couldn't help it. Toy Lucy was just the right size to cuddle, and my actual dog Lucy always liked to sleep at my feet.

Kurt nodded, "Right, what about this?" He asked, holding up a photo album.

* * *

Hours later, I was going through the remnants of my room. Kurt and I had gotten a lot done together, but we took a long break and went to the Lima Bean, so I decided I could do the last of my clothes and bits and bobs on my own.

I sighed and walked over to my wardrobe. It was kind of sad seeing my life boxed up. However, I was looking forward to a fresh start.

I cringed when I pulled out a particularly ugly animal sweater, "Chuck," I decided with a grimace,

I had done a little bit of a style overhaul in the previous few days. It had started with getting rid of several of my remaining animal sweaters, and then making sure everything I had was New York worthy.

There was still a big pile of clothes at the back of my wardrobe, clothes that I rarely wore. I picked them up and put them on the bed, picking them up and sorting them into the charity box.

I put  _yet another_  animal sweater in the charity pile and gasped when I saw the last jumper in the pile. It was one of Quinn's. I touched it carefully, almost as if it would disappear. I looked back at my wardrobe, the jumper had been at the bottom of a pile at the back of the closet,  _surely_  Quinn left it there on purpose. No. Bad idea. She just forgot about it.

I picked it up to look at it; it was a grey hoodie with the number 19 on the back. I chuckled fondly, ever since we had started dating, she had called 19 her lucky number, the day we started dating. I looked at it suspiciously, it's not like it was going to hurt if I put it on...

I took off the jumper I was wearing and pulled on Quinn's jumper. I sat back against the back of my bed and buried my face in the jumper, it still smelt like Quinn. I could feel myself starting to cry, so I decided to give myself five minutes to completely break down, before I had to get back to work. I knew that if I cried any more than that, I wouldn't stop.

* * *

Tina, Kurt, Lucy and I had left Lima two days later. We had decided to go on a Tuesday as there would be less traffic, in theory, anyway. It was hard to say goodbye to my dads, as it kind of felt like it was final, you know? Permanent, even though it really wasn't. They had already told me they would visit a week or two after I had settled in. They were pretty emotional, but they were obviously trying to be strong for me.

I took the first shift driving, for 2 hours, then we stopped in Bellville to go to a nearby gas station. We got out, stretched our legs, walked Lucy for a bit, and ate lunch at a cute little café that we had found.

We had decided that Tina would take the next shift and eventually, we arrived in New York.

"Rachel," A gentle voice spoke up,

I shifted to the side and groaned, I was having the most wonderful dream about Quinn and I could feel it fading away,

"Rachel!" The voice repeated, much louder this time,

I jumped in my seat, "I'm up, I'm up!" I groaned, rubbing my eyes tiredly and sitting up,

"We're here!" Kurt squealed,

I looked out the window and smiled. We were stopped outside mine and Tina's house and it looked even more beautiful than it had in the pictures.

I fumbled with the car door slightly before opening it and getting out of the car, grabbing Lucy's leash and letting her jump out after me.

"It looks perfect!" Tina said in awe, grabbing my free hand and squeezing it gently, "We're hooome," She said in a sing-song voice,

Kurt cleared his throat from behind us, snapping us out of our mini trance, "Ladies," He sang pointedly, "I love you but I am not taking your suitcases up all those stairs," He reminded,

I shook myself slightly, "Right," I agreed, and grabbed my suitcase out of the boot, Tina following suit,

"The truck arrives on Friday, okay?" Kurt clarified, "It comes here first, then mine, then Brittana's," He reminded, "I am going to get settled in, and we'll meet back here at," He looked at his watch, "Seven?"

We nodded, so he climbed into the driver's seat and drove off to get his place sorted,

"Come on!" I squealed, and I rushed up the stairs of our little Bushwick apartment block,

I fumbled with the lock a couple of times before I actually got it, and I slid the door open,

"It's perfect," I breathed, letting Luc off her leash,

Lucy bounded around the apartment, tail wagging enthusiastically,

"I love it," Tina decided,

"So do I." A third voice agreed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Did you like this chapter? Any suspicions on where Quinn is/what she is doing? I'd love to hear what you are thinking, so please leave it in a comment! D I know a lot of you were probably hoping that Quinn would come back this chapter, but I really want Rachel to be in a better state of mind when she sees Quinn. At the moment, I don't she's ready. I really hope you liked this chapter, please review if you did, you know I love reading them and they are great motivation for writing, and I will see you next chapter!-Lauren's Glee Stories :D
> 
> Song: Cry-Kelly Clarkson, sung by Rachel on Glee, Season 3
> 
> Twitter: @L_GleeStories


	19. Bushwick, Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody!!! I hope you enjoy this chapter, a lot is going to happen. It's this chapter, the next, then the epilogue and we're all finished, just so you know. Also, this is part ONE of two chapters. So, if anything doesn't make sense, or is unresolved by the end of this chapter, I encourage you to read the next one to clear the air! 
> 
> Enjoy and please review!!! I love reading them!-Lauren's Glee Stories

**A/N: Hello everybody! I'm so glad you enjoyed last chapter! You guys are literally the sweetest, I love reading all of your reviews! So, because of the overwhelmingly positive response last chapter, I am back! I'm so sad that this story is coming to an end, but I'm pretty proud of the response it has gotten. I am going to keep writing Faberry, and other ships, so stay tuned for any of those! And, do you guys want an epilogue? I don't want to ruin the story by doing or not doing one... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review if you do, and I will see you on the other side!-Lauren's Glee Stories**

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

"Noah!" I squealed, and ran to give him a hug, which he accepted with a smirk,

"Hey, princess," He said softly,

"Hey, Puck," Tina greeted, "What're you doing here?" She asked curiously, "I thought you were staying in Lima for a few weeks..."

"I thought Rachel would need me here," He answered with a shrug,

"Need you here for what...?" I interjected confusedly,

He turned to me with a questioning glance, "For..." He started, before closing his mouth and shaking his head once,

"For...?" I prompted with a nod,

He shook his head again, "To help you settle into New York, of course!" He answered excitedly, though I got the feeling that it wasn't his original answer,

I nodded suspiciously, "Right," I agreed, "Well, I'm glad you're here," I told him, giving him another hug,

He smiled back at me, "So," He clapped his hands, "Where am I sleeping?"

I grinned, I had brainstormed the layout of this apartment for hours, meticulously sorting through every little detail,

"Well," I started with a big smile.

* * *

A week later, there was a knock at the door,

"I'll get it!" I declared, and got up to walk to the door,

I slid the door aside to reveal Kurt,

"I finally remembered to get you a house-warming gift!" He exclaimed, holding a bottle of wine and some flowers,

"Awww, you're sweet," I smiled, accepting the roses and sniffing them, "They smell beautiful, thank you!" I squealed, and gave Kurt a hug,

"Kurt's here!" I shouted to the rest of the apartment,

Tina appeared from behind one of the temporary privacy curtains we had put up,

"Hey, Kurt," She greeted with a smile, walking towards us to give him a hug,

"Holy Barbra, this place looks amazing!" He exclaimed, looking around the place in disbelief, "You did a lot in a week,"

"Noah helped a lot," I admitted,

"When's Artie getting here?" Kurt asked curiously, more to Tina than myself,

"Next week," Tina replied with a smile, "The dorms at the Academy open on Monday," She explained,

I was happy for all my friends. They had all done so well to make it to New York. They had also managed to stay with their partner, unlike me. They were going to be okay.

"Who wants pizza?" Kurt asked with a smile,

"Definitely me," Noah agreed, appearing from the bathroom,

Kurt ran over to hug him, "I can't believe you got here early!" He squealed,

Noah shrugged, "I just... Yeah..." He mumbled incoherently, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly,

Kurt quirked an eyebrow up at him, "You just...?" He prompted,

Noah shook himself slightly, "Wanted to get a head start on the chicks of New York!" He exclaimed, "Obviously," He added with a smirk,

Kurt shook his head in a kind of fond disgust, "Men," He muttered, moving away from Noah to sit with Tina,

I tilted my head at Noah, he'd been acting weird all week. Avoiding my (and Tina's) questions, and acting all shifty.

"You alright, Noah?" I asked smoothly,

He jumped a bit, "What? Yeah, of course," He replied, smiling tightly,

I nodded, "Yeah..." I agreed, "Of course,"

"Oh, you know Dani, from the diner?" I said to no one in particular,

Tina and Kurt nodded,

"She's coming over for dinner, so everybody is to be nice," I warned, "It'll be good for us to make some friends,"

Tina nodded in agreement, "She seems really nice,"

I looked at my watch and jumped slightly, "It's five already?!" I squeaked, "She's supposed to be here at five-fifteen!"

Noah looked at his phone cautiously and frowned, "Five," He muttered,

"Do you need anything for dinner?" Kurt asked, ignoring Noah's comment,

I ran through a list in my head, "Wine," I decided, "We have one bottle, but do you think you could go and get another? " I asked hopefully,

Noah jumped off of the couch, "That's a good idea!" He agreed, "Let's go put our fake ID's to use and buy some booze! Come on! Chop-Chop! We don't have all day!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, standing by the door and gesturing wildly to the outside,

Kurt looked at him as if he were insane,

Noah cleared his throat, "Come on," He urged, once again waving his arms towards the door,

I squinted my eyes at him suspiciously, "In a hurry, are we?"

Noah pulled out his phone and checked the time again, "Well, if Dani is coming around at five fifteen, and it's two past five, we've only got thirteen minutes to get as much alcohol as we can, not a lot of time," He concluded,

Kurt rolled his eyes, "We get it, Noah, you can count up to fifteen," He joked,

"We'll be back soon," Tina assured,

Noah coughed, "Or never, bye!"

He ran out the door before I could ask him what he meant, Kurt and Tina following behind, making sure the door was locked behind them.

I shook my head, Noah was always weird. I was imagining things.

* * *

I had just gotten out some snacks when there was a knock at the door. I looked at my watch, too early to be Dani, it looked like Tina had forgotten something. I rolled my eyes and walked to the door,

"Forget something?" I asked as I slid the door open,

"No?" Dani replied in a questioning tone,

"Oh! I thought it was Tina," I explained,

"Sorry that I'm early," She apologised with a smile, "My clock was running late, I didn't realise until I looked at my phone a few minutes ago," She added, blushing slightly,

I waved my hand at her, "It's fine, I was just about to get some snacks, come in!" I invited, stepping aside to let her enter,

"Nice place," She commented appreciatively, looking around the apartment,

"I know! We were so lucky to find this place," I said conversationally, "Would you like a glass of wine?" I asked her,

"Ooh, I'd love one," She agreed, putting her jacket over a chair and running her fingers through her hair,

I got two glasses out and poured one for her, one for myself, handing her hers and taking a sip of my own,

Lucy came bounding into the room and jumped up at Dani,

"Lucy!" I said sternly, "Manners," I reminded her,

Dani just smiled and put her glass down, "It's okay, I love dogs," She told me, kneeling down to pat her,

Lucy was sniffing her intently, and kept nudging her hand,

"Aw, she likes you," I commented fondly,

Lucy suddenly ran over to me and whimpered slightly, and I furrowed my brow,

"What is it, girl?" I asked her softly, kneeling down to pat her,

She whimpered again and nudged my hand,

"Is she okay?" Dani asked concernedly,

I stood up, "She's alright, she's just acting weird," I shrugged, and turned to the table, "Ooh, I forgot to light the candles," I realised, and grabbed the lighter, taking a sip of my wine and lighting the first one,

Lucy ran over to the door, scratching at the bottom of it,

Dani frowned, "Are you sure she's alright?" She asked again,

I nodded, "She probably just wants a walk, I'll take her out after dinner," I told her as I struggled to light the next candle,

There was a knock at the door, and I realised that Tina's key was on the side,

"That's what she's worked up about," I realised, "Would you mind getting the door?" I asked Dani, stomping my foot when I burnt my finger,

Dani nodded, "Sure," She smiled, and she grabbed Lucy's collar before sliding the door open,

"Hello," She greeted,

"Hello?" A confused voice replied, and I froze,

"Can I help you?" Dani replied politely,

I heard some shuffling, "I'm sorry, I must have gotten the wrong place..." They commented, "You are?"

"Dani," She replied,

"Quinn," Quinn replied, and I loosed the grip on my wine glass, which shattered on the floor,

Dani spun around in concern, "Are you okay, Rachel?" She asked me quickly, heading towards me,

I couldn't speak, I just looked at all the glass around me, not correctly registering everything,

"Rachel?" Quinn asked, walking into the apartment, a suitcase trailing behind her, and she raised an eyebrow when she saw the candles and food,

Dani looked at both of us confusedly, "You know each other?" She asked curiously,

"Dani," I said shakily, "Tina, Kurt and Noah are going to get back soon, could you go outside, wait for them, and wait there 'till I come out for you?" I asked,

She looked concerned, and Quinn was just standing there, the look on her face indecipherable,

"Is everything okay..?" Dani asked when she caught my glare,

"Just peachy," I replied with a smile, and she nodded,

"Right," She said slowly, "I'll be just outside," She assured me, turning to walk out,

"Oh, and Dani?" I asked in a light voice, and she turned around to face me,

"Yep?" She replied,

"If I don't come out in thirty minutes, call the police," I advised,

She looked like she really didn't want to leave at that comment, but she exited the apartment, leaving Quinn and me all alone,

"Nice pl-" She started,

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, cutting her off,

She looked at me guiltily, "I can explain," She assured me, holding her hands out in defence,

"Explain what, exactly? What is there to explain?" I exclaimed in a shrill voice, "You made yourself perfectly clear!"

"I had to go!" She replied insistently, "You know I did!"

"How could you do that to me?" I asked in a quiet voice, "You just left me, no goodbye, just some bullshit note with a grand total of seven words, plus 'my sincerest apologies'?! What kind of shit is that? What are you, firing me?!" I squawked incredulously,

She winced at that, "Look, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, you know why I left," She looked at me pointedly,

"No, I don't! That note made it sound like you didn't love me anymore! It made it sound like you couldn't date me anymore!" I shrieked, a couple of tears running down my face which I wiped away fiercely,

"Come on, Rachel! You knew that I couldn't let you down!" She shouted, "You knew that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I caused you to fail!" She insisted, throwing her hands up,

"You could have talked to me," I said coldly, ignoring the voice in the back of my head,

"I'm so sorry," She said sincerely, "You know I-"

"You know how much you hurt me?" I asked softly, wrapping my arms around myself and allowing a few tears to run down my face, gasping slightly for air, "You know how much I cried? I couldn't sleep, I barely ate, or ate too much, you completely screwed me up!" I shrieked,

"I'm here now," She objected,

"Where did you even go? What did you do?" I asked incredulously, "Why are you here?"

She rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled awkwardly, "I got a job," She said with a proud smile, swinging her arms beside her,

I squinted my eyes angrily, "You got a job?"

"Uh, yes?" She replied in a questioning tone,

I scoffed, "And you couldn't have done that without breaking up with me?" I asked angrily, throwing my hands up,

She tilted her head as if she didn't understand the question, reminding me of Lucy when I said 'Walkies', looking kind of cu-, no, not looking cute,

"Look, I don't know what you're expecting by showing up here out of the blue," I said coldly, "I don't love you anymore, I've moved on," I lied,

Quinn nodded stoically, "With Dani?" She asked curiously, sounding hurt, but almost accepting, as if she saw it coming,

"Yes?" I replied, and coughed, "I mean, yes," I restated,

She nodded again, her eyes watering slightly, "Right," She replied, "I'll, uh, get out of your hair then," She offered,

I nodded firmly, "I think that would be the best thing for both of us," I agreed,

She grabbed her suitcase and tilted it so it was on its wheels,

"Lucy!" She said excitedly, and Lucy ran over to her from her bed,

Quinn knelt down to pat her, still holding her suitcase,

"I love you, girl, almost as much as I love Rachel," She said in a whisper, "Be a good girl, okay? I'll see you sometime," She promised,

Lucy nudged her hand, asking to be patted again, but Quinn stood up, smoothing down her dress,

I stood there silently, trying to ignore pretty much everything around me, focusing on a spot on the table,

"Goodbye, Rachel," Quinn said softly, and I could see her turning to walk out of the apartment in my peripheral vision, then, raising her hand to unlock the door, walking out of the apartment,

Lucy looked at me sadly, tilting her head at me,

I was shaking, the sobs wracking my body with such a force that I felt myself hunch over, covering my mouth to muffle the sound of my crying,

I gasped for breath a couple of times and mentally shook myself, there was no reason to cry,

"Wait!" I shouted, running out of the apartment, barely remembering to close the door behind me,

The elevator just closed as a neighbour got into it, and I cursed myself for living on the top floor as I bolted down the stairs, passing Dani, Kurt, Tina and Puck on the stairs and ignoring them as I tripped down the next few steps, grabbing on to the handrail and swinging myself around the corner, feet moving quicker than I knew they could,

I burst out onto the street, looking desperately for Quinn, scanning the crowd for women with blonde hair and wearing a dress,

My breath was coming in heavy pants, and I felt like I was close to passing out,

"Quinn!" I shouted over the crowd, cursing the street for being busy, for once in its existence,

Suddenly, I saw a taxi pulling up to the curb and a Quinn pulling her suitcase behind her, the driver offering to take it for her,

"No," I whispered to myself, running towards the end of the street as fast as I could, which, in my defence, I was doing in heels,

"Quinn!" I shouted again, getting closer and closer to them, "Stop!" I screeched, still a couple hundred feet away from her,

By some miracle, Quinn turned around before she got in the taxi, squinting her eyes when she saw me,

"Wait!" I shouted, speeding up to get to her, and she moved away from the taxi, waiting for me to get to her,

I should have probably slowed down when I was fifty feet away from her, but oh well... A couple of relieved tears fell down my face as I threw myself on her with such a force that I knocked both of us over, and she landed with a grunt on the grass, Quinn managing to tuck her head and roll to the side so we didn't hit the ground too hard, and cushioning my fall excellently,

"I lied," I admitted quietly, resting my head on her shoulder,

"About what?" She managed with a croak,

"I do still love you," I told her, "I never stopped,"

She sighed with relief, "I love you too," She replied, kissing the top of my head and nudging me to get up,

"Oh, and one more thing," I told her after I had stood up, smoothed my dress down and helped her up,

"Yeah?" She replied with a smile,

My right hand moved swiftly and slapped Quinn's left cheek, lightly, but just enough to get the message through,

"Don't put me through that again," I told her softly, grinning slightly,

She put her hand on her cheek and rubbed it slightly, "I kind of deserved that," She agreed,

"Hey, now we're even!" I exclaimed with a smile,

She laughed good-naturedly, "I think we should agree to put an end to all this violence," She joked,

"As long as we're together, I'll never hit you again," I assured her, "As long as you don't cheat on me," I added as an after-thought,

I linked my arm through hers, "I missed you so much," I whispered, putting my head on her shoulder briefly,

"I'm sorry," She replied sincerely, "I had to leave,"

"You do realise you left pretty much straight after we slept together for the first time, right?" I chuckled slightly, "I thought you weren't attracted to me," I told her, "Or that you decided it was just a phase and weren't a lesbian,"

She smirked slightly, "Tell you what, as soon as we are alone, I am going to show you just how attracted to you I am," She whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my neck, then kissing me softly,

"That sounds like a good idea," I agreed softly,

We arrived back at my apartment and I stopped us at the bottom of the stairs,

"Did you tell Noah where you were?" I asked curiously,

Quinn nodded, "Yeah, I wanted someone to know, and Puck, reluctantly, promised me he wouldn't tell," She admitted,

"Two things, one; you need to call your mother," I told her sternly, "She's worried sick, and she needs to tell the police you've been found," I explained, "Two; you might want to prepare yourself for a lot of back-lash," I warned her,

She winced, "Who's here?"

"I bumped into Kurt, Tina and Noah on the way down," I told her, brushing some invisible dirt off of her shoulders, "You'll be fine," I reassured her, "They'll just want to talk,"

She scoffed, "That's the worst line in humanity's entire existence,"

I relinked arms with her and headed up the stairs, "You do kind of deserve it," I added after we turned the corner,

She hummed in agreement, "Probably," She admitted with a small grin,

I hit her shoulder playfully, "Definitely," I corrected,

"Fine," She mumbled,

"Come on," I said as we headed up the last flight, "You're lucky!" I tried to tell her, walking up to the front door, "At least Santana isn-"

The door slid opened suddenly to reveal an angry looking Santana standing there with her arms crossed,

"Run!" I whispered quickly to Quinn, pushing her behind me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh! Guess who's back?!?!?!?! I hope you liked this chapter, please review if you did and I'll see you next time!!


	20. Bushwick, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the double update!!!! Next chapter will be the last! Please review if you like it, or if you don't, and I'll see you on the other side!-Lauren's Glee Stories

**Quinn's POV**

As soon as Rachel told me to run, I didn't hesitate,

"Come back here, Hijo de Puta!" Santana shouted from behind her, making my feet move even quicker,

I risked a glance behind me but couldn't see Santana, and I ran down the stairs, taking two at a time until I reached the bottom, mentally cursing Puck and Tina for choosing a top-floor apartment,

I could head Santana's footsteps behind me and sped up, bursting through the main doors and onto the street, frantically looking for an escape route,

"Park," I muttered to myself, "Park's good, park will be safe," I decided, bolting down the street, trying my best to avoid people and run low.

By the time I had reached the middle of the park I was panting heavily and my legs were killing me,

"Dios!" Santana cursed from behind me, making me jump, "You made me run that in heels, Puta," She muttered in disdain,

I turned around to see Santana glaring at me,

"I can explain," I said in defence, taking a couple of steps back,

"Explain what, exactly?" She replied challengingly, "How you up and left town, abandoning your girlfriend and all your friends, not to mention your mother and Soph?" She asked incredulously, "Or how about the fact that we set up a search party to look for you for three days, until the police assured us your disappearance wasn't suspicious and that you had a right to disappear?" She continues, throwing her hands up,

I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off,

"No, Tubbers, you need to hear this," She said firmly, "And quite frankly, I need to say it," She added, "You see, Fabray, in the real world, you can't just run away from the things that scare you, you understand? You're not allowed to skip out on your life like that," she said firmly, "You see, Stretch Marks, that's not how things work for us adults. And you are certainly not allowed to come back after you've been MIA for weeks, and expect things to go back to normal!" She shrieked,

I winced, I had been expecting this, really. It's just that I kind of hoped I'd be able to avoid it. Especially until after I'd carried out the rest of my plan.

"You've always done it, Q, and you know it," Santana continued, "Remember the time you found out Britts and I were gay?," She reminded,

Ah, about that-

"How long did you not talk to us for, Quinn?" She asked with mock curiosity, "Was that six months? A year? You know how many times I had to explain to Britt that it wasn't because you didn't like her?" She asked me,

"Santana, I-" I objected,

"I haven't finished yet, Quinn," She interrupted, holding her hand up for silence,

I bit my tongue,

"I forgave you for it, you know? I did because I knew that you were struggling with your own sexuality vs faith debate, and your father wouldn't stop giving you shit about us. But you always run, Quinn! It's your default setting, and it's bullshit," She swore, pointing at me,

Yeah, I really wasn't enjoying this. But, I knew I deserved it.

"To be honest, I could give two shits about you disappearing-when it only concerns you. When it concerns Britts, that's bad. When it concerns your family, even worse. Rachel is one of my best friends, if you weren't aware, Quinn," She told me, "You know how in a break-up if you were friends with one first, you're supposed to stick with them?" She asked,

I nodded confusedly,

"Yeah, that's not the way I roll. I don't stick with a person if they were in the wrong. Rachel doesn't deserve that,"

"I know she deserves better than me, San," I interrupted, "I am fully aware of that, but I am going I do better," I swore, "I am going to treat her right,"

"What if shit gets hard again?" She challenged, looking thoughtful for a second before coming up with something, "What if she gets a job in another state? What if she decides she wants kids? What about if she proposes?" She fires off the questions one after another,

I thought it would be best to not say anything on the last matter, but rather address the question as a whole,

"Then shit gets hard together," I promised, "I'm not going to let her down like this ever again,"

Santana stared at me for a second before her expression relaxed, and she walked towards me,

"Sorry," she apologised with a smirk,

"What fo-" I started confusedly,

Her hand moved faster than I could keep up with and she slapped me, kind of hard,

I nodded and rubbed my cheek, "That's okay," I told her, wincing slightly,

She pulled me into a hug,

"Wha-" I asked,

"You scared Britt," she said in a small voice,

I wrapped my arms around her,

"I'm sorry, S," I apologised sincerely,

She sniffed and pulled back,

"Don't apologise to me, apologise to Britt," She objected strongly,

'Thou doth protest too much,' I thought with a smile,

"I'll apologise as soon as I see her," I promised,

"You better," She grumbled warningly, before putting her hand on my shoulder and slipping off her heels, holding them in one hand and linking her other through my arm,

"Did you happen to miss me at all, San?" I asked teasingly,

"No!" She answered stubbornly,

"Good to know," I replied with a smile, Reston my head on her shoulder, "Hey, S?" I asked,

"Yep?" She replied,

"When do Sam and Artie get here?" I asked innocently,

"Artie gets here on Tuesday, Sam arrives on Friday," She answered, "Why?" She asked curiously,

"No reason," I replied with a shrug, a plan already forming in my mind.

* * *

When we got back to the apartment, Rachel looked relieved, and Tina even clapped, before being silenced by a look from Santana,

"We get it, she's alive, whoop-de-doo," Santana cheered sarcastically, showing a hint of a genuine smile,

Brittany had since arrived at the apartment, and clapped her hands together, "I'm so glad you didn't get kidnapped by the mafia," she cheered, and she gave me a hug,

The others in the room, Kurt, Tina, Rachel and a guilty looking Noah exchanged confused glances, but I just smiled,

"It's good to be back, Britt," I smiled,

Noah looked like he was about to burst, and I glared at him pointedly, a warning to stay silent. Luckily, Tina spoke up, pulling he attention from him,

"Hey, Quinn," Tina greeted with a smile, walking forward to give me a hug, which I accepted with a smile,

"Hey," I replied,

"Long time, Fabray," Kurt greeted with a pointed look, earning an elbow in the ribs from Rachel,

"Nice to see you too," I replied fondly,

"Where did you say you were, again?" Tina asked curiously,

"Yeah," Brittany agreed, "I mean, if you weren't with the mafia or training to become a super-secret spy, where did you go?" She asked confusedly,

"I got a job…" I answered with a smile,

They all stared at me pointedly, waiting for me to say what it was,

"Well, we all know I'm into the arts, but you also know that you can't just get a job acting or singing like that," I told them, clicking my fingers to support my point, "So, I decided to pursue one of my others talents," I said slowly,

"Well?" Rachel asked impatiently,

"I got a job with the biggest photography company in New York!" I squealed,

"Wait, what did you say?" Rachel asked as if she had misheard,

"Yeah, I think I heard her wrong," Kurt said in agreement,

"Technically it's a paid internship," I amended, "With Sarah Lachance at the Smile Studios!" I squealed,

"Oh my god!" Rachel squealed back, running to give me a hug, "I'm so proud of you!" She told me quietly,

Time to enact my plan,

"As a celebration for us all being in New York," I started, looking pointedly at Noah, "We should have a party!"

They all cheered,

"Yeah!" Tina agreed enthusiastically, "We can do it next Saturday so that Artie and Sam are here!"

I smiled, "Sounds great," I agreed,

"And we can hold it here," Kurt decided, "You guys easily have the biggest apartment, and with Quinn staying here, the majority of us are living here,"

"Hang on," Rachel said slowly, "Who said Quinn was staying here?"She asked confusedly,

Wait,

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly,

Was she implying that I was supposed to live somewhere else…?

Rachel chuckled, "Just kidding!" She assured us, holding her hands up,

I breathed a sigh of relief, and so did everyone else in the room,

"To be honest, I'd understand if you didn't forgive her," Santana told Rachel, "But as long as you're happy, I don't care,"

Rachel smiled at Santana, "Thanks, Tana," She said appreciatively,

Santana wrinkled her nose slightly at the nickname,

"I guess I can live with it," She shrugged,

I smiled as our friends started chatting with each other, deciding who would bring what to the party.

Rachel smiled at me softly from across the room, looking beautiful as ever as she talked to Kurt about something or other,

In that moment, I was more certain about my plan than ever. Everything was sorted out. All Rachel needed to do was show up.

* * *

"You nervous?" Puck asked me, moving to lean against the wall, next to me,

I smoothed down my dress with my left hand, "Not at all," I assured,

"Really? Because you've been a playing with your necklace for the past half an hour," he pointed out,

My hand froze at my neck and I turned to Puck,

"Just a little bit," I amended,

He rose an eyebrow up at me,

"Fine, I'm terrified," I whisper-shouted, "Happy?"

"Little bit," He told me, holding his hand up to demonstrate,

"Screw you," I muttered,

"You did remember it, right?" He asked slowly,

My heart dropped, and I patted my pockets quickly,

"Uh…" I said guiltily,

"Inside pocket?" He checked,

I moved my hand to the inside pocket on my denim jacket and sighed with relief,

"Yes," I replied,

He looked around the room,

"Our apartment cleaned up pretty good, huh," he commented,

"Yeah," I agreed, "We're lucky Tina wanted it to look pretty, otherwise it might have been a bit suspicious,"

The place had cleaned up well. Tina had hung fairy lights on the walls, and we had little mason jars on the tables with lights in them. There was finger food scattered around the room, and the lights were off, giving the room a dim atmosphere. Everyone had dressed in smart clothes as well, dresses and suits, on Kurt's orders. I didn't even have to tell them what was happening, they practically planned it for me.

Sam had arrived the day before, and his arrival had calmed Kurt down a bit, as Sam's presence always did. He said he already loved New York, and Kurt and Sam had arrived late to dinner, and we all knew what that meant…

Artie has arrived a couple of days before Sam, moving into the dorms at the Academy.

I looked at Tina and Artie chatting in the corner and thought of how grateful I would always be that they had believed and helped me when I needed it most.

Then, at Kurt, talking to Sam and Tina. He had kept my secret even when he hadn't entirely believed me, and that was no easy task. I knew that without everyone in this room, my life would be a very different story.

I had never been happier. My closest friends were all in one place, my girlfriend. I had a job with good career progression. Almost everything was perfect. Almost.

Noah checked his watch, "It's showtime," he told me quietly,

I nodded determinedly, my eyes scanning the room for Rachel,

"By the mini-cheeses," Noah pointed out,

"Got it," I affirmed, "Wish me luck?" I asked hopefully,

"Good luck, Baby Mama," Noah said quietly, "You'll be fine," he assured me,

"Right," I agreed, checking my pocket one more time, got it,

I headed towards Rachel, stumbling slightly because of my heels, then cursing myself for looking stupid,

Rachel saw me walking towards her and smiled,

"Hey," She greeted with a soft smile when I approached her,

"Nice food?" I asked her conversationally,

"Ooh, it's lovely," She said appreciatively,

"Could I talk to you, Rach? In private?" I asked in a slightly nervous tone,

She looked slightly surprised, "Um, sure, I guess, do you want to go to the rooftop?" She asked me,

I mentally cheered, that had been exactly what I had wanted her to say,

"Sure," I agreed with a smile, motioning for her to walk in front of me and glancing quickly at Puck, who offered a thumbs-up,

Rachel walked in front of me up to the rooftop, and I could hear her gasp when she opened the door,

"Did you do this?" She asked me in awe,

I shrugged nonchalantly, "Maybe," I replied,

"It's beautiful," she muttered as she looked at the lights and the little table set up.

"Could you sit down?" I asked her, motioning to the chair,

She looked at me confusedly, but moved to sit down anyway,

"What did you do?" She asked suspiciously, "Oh my god, did you cheat on me?" She exclaimed, "You're not pregnant, are you? Because that would be really bad and I'm not sure that I'd be ready to-" she ranted,

"Rachel," I interrupted softly, "It's nothing like that," I promised her,

She relaxed in the chair, "Okay," she breathed out, "What did you want to say, then?" She asked me, motioning for me to speak,

"It's more of a question, actually," I corrected, standing in front of Rachel,

She raised an eyebrow up at me curiously, but nodded for me to continue,

"You see, Rachel, these past few weeks gave me a lot of time to reflect on our relationship," I started, "We've been through a hell of a lot together, I reckon, and that made us stronger as a couple," I explained, "I mean, how many forty-year-olds do we know who have gone through this, nevertheless eighteen-year-olds?" I asked rhetorically, and she smiled and nodded in agreement,

I took a deep breath,

"I love you being my girlfriend, Rachel," I told her sincerely, and she smiled, "But it just isn't right,"

The smile dropped off her face,

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking hurt, which kind of hurt me to see,

"I mean, that I don't want you to be my girlfriend," I restated, going ahead with my speech,

"But-" She objected,

I adjusted my weight and knelt down on one knee in front of her, carefully balancing on my heel,

"I want to marry you, Rachel," I declared with a smile, "Girlfriend doesn't even begin to describe how strongly I feel for you, but fiancée? That's a little more like it," I continued,

She looked shell-shocked,

"I wanted to ask you in private, so as not to put you on the spot," I told her, and she nodded slightly, "if you don't want this, I'll stand up, and I promise we can go downstairs as if nothing happened," I assured her, "But I love you, Rachel Berry, and I can't imagine ever loving anyone as much as I love you, right now," I told her,

I pulled the small box out of my pocket,

"So, Rachel Barbra Berry, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" I asked her, opening the box to reveal a delicate rose gold ring with a single diamond in the middle, "Well, one day," I amended, "I propose a long engagement," I added with a smile,

Tears were shining in Rachel's eyes,

"No…" She said slowly,

I froze, "Uh, wait, what?" I stuttered,

"Sorry," She shook her head, "I just wanted to see what it felt like to say no,"

"And?" I asked nervously,

"Not great," She told me with a shake of her head,

"So, does that mean-" I started to ask,

Rachel nodded with a huge smile, "Of course I'll marry you!" She squealed,

I took the ring out of the box and reached for her hand, grabbing it softly and pushing the ring onto her ring finger,

I stood up and offered her my hand,

"You sure?" I clarified,

She nodded and put a hand over her mouth, smiling through her tears and then wrapping her hands around my neck,

"I love you so much," She whispered in my ear, still crying as she hugged me tightly,

I wrapped my arms around her, "I love you more," I replied, kissing the top of her head,

"Not possible," She replied stubbornly,

I laughed, "Let's agree to disagree," I offered,

She nodded, and pulled away,

"How long have we been gone?" She asked curiously,

"Not long," I shrugged, "They probably just assumed we're having sex,"

She hit my shoulder lightly, "Do you think we could trick them?" She asked slyly,

"Anything's possible," I replied with a smirk.

* * *

I walked downstairs with Rachel trailing behind me, and pushed open the door to our apartment, putting on my best 'shell-shocked/distraught' face,

Kurt was the first person to notice me,

"What's wrong, Quinn?" He asked concernedly, drawing everybody's attention to me,

"Rachel broke up with me," I said quietly,

Noah looked surprised,

"She what?" Santana asked confusedly, "I thought you guys were fine now…" she muttered,

"This club is worse than Fleetwood Mack," Tina commented confusedly, shaking her head,

"Did she really break up with you?" Artie asked in shock,

"Yep," Rachel's voice interrupted from the doorway, "With this!" She squealed, holding up her left hand to show everyone her ring,

They all stood there staring,

Britt clapped excitedly, "Oh my god, you guys are so unicorn right now,"

"Holy shit, Fabray, you put a ring on it already?" She asked incredulously,

Our friends all clapped and cheered, and Sam and Puck were whistling from the back,

Kurt ran up to us and hugged Rachel,

"Holy Barbra, congratulations!" He squeaked, hugging me afterwards,

"Guys, it was so romantic!" Rachel gushed,

I smiled,

One by one, the rest of our friends came up to congratulate us, all surprised but happy on our behalf.

"I don't get it," Rachel commented later, "We were together all week, when did you have the time to get the ring?"

I laughed slightly, "Well…"

* * *

… _ **..Flashback…..**_

_Someone cleared their throat and I looked up from my coffee,_

" _Hi," I said quietly with a slightly guilty wave,_

" _Where the hell have you been?" Puck demanded in a harsh whisper,_

" _Uh, New York?" I answered guiltily,_

" _You know how worried everyone is, Q? Your mother? Santana? Not to mention your girlfriend: Rachel?" He exclaimed,_

" _I had to go, Puck," I told him, "I have it all planned out, I just needed your help," I explained,_

" _Is that why you texted me saying I needed to get here ASAP? I took the first plane out of Ohio when I saw that text," He told me, "It looked hella suspicious when I upped and left, telling Rach, Tina and Kurt that I had a sick relative in Kentucky. I don't even know what I'm going to say when they find out I've been here for this long!" He ranted,_

" _We'll think about that later," I said dismissively, "For now, you need to come shopping with me," I informed him, leaving him little choice in the matter as I walked out of the coffee shop and down the road,_

" _Fabray!" He shouted after me,_

_I smiled as I looked up at the buildings around me. I already loved New York. Everything about it was so… charming… The buildings, the people, all of the cafes and restaurants. Everything was like a scene from a movie._

_By the time Puckerman had caught up with me, I had stopped in front of the store I wanted to look in,_

" _What are we doing here?" He asked confusedly,_

" _Buying me an engagement ring," I answered with a small smile, opening the door to the shop and walking in, smoothing my dress down purposefully,_

_I heard the bell ding behind me as Puck walked into the store,_

" _An engagement ring?!" He demanded in a harsh whisper, trying not to draw attention to us,_

" _Exactly," I replied smoothly,_

" _To who, exactly?" He asked, "Because in case you've forgotten, you and Rachel aren't even dating!"_

" _I know that," I answered with a patient smile, "Look," I said, walking over to look at some of the rings, "I love her more than life itself. I know that what I did was horrible, but I had to do it!" I insisted, "I'm going to go to your apartment after I've sorted everything out, and we'll see where things go from there," I explained,_

" _Right….." He said slowly,_

_"What are you two looking for today?" One of the sales assistants asked politely,_

_"An engagement ring, actually," I replied with a smile,_

_The woman nodded, "Right," She affirmed, pulling out on of the drawers for us to look at, "How long have the two of you been together?" She asked curiously, looking between Puck and I,_

_"Oh, no," I objected, shaking my head, "It's for my girlfriend," I told her, "Her name's Rachel," I added with a smile,_

_"Ex-girlfriend," Noah corrected under his breath, resulting in me elbowing him in the ribs,_

_The woman smiled, "Any particular style you have in mind?"_

… _ **End Flashback…..**_

* * *

"After that, we got the ring, went back to my hotel room so Puck could spend the night, and the rest is history," I shrugged,

Rachel laughed, "I can't believe you did all that, considering we weren't even dating," She teased,

I blushed slightly, "Well, I was pretty determined to get you back," I answered,

"I'm glad," She told me,

"I love you, Rachel," I told her quietly, "Fiancée," I added with a smirk,

"I love you too, Quinn," She replied softly, "Goodnight," She whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did ya like it?? Did ya? Did ya??? Again, I did, but I'm almost definitely biased. Oops. I really hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you did, please review!!!! I'd love to hear your thoughts! Okay, see you next time!!!-Lauren's Glee Stories


	21. The Grande Finale

**A/N: Hello everybody! This is officially the last chapter of When You Lie. I am so happy you have stuck with the story and I'm extremely proud of how this has turned out. I'm really sad that it's come to an end, but I know it can't go on forever. If you guys have anything you would like to see in a one-shot, please, please leave it in a review and I'll be happy to see what I can do! I have a couple of ideas for one-shots in this verse so if you want to see them make sure to follow me! If you know anyone who enjoys Glee or Faberry, please tell them about this story! Get the word out! I'm not really sure what else to say apart from; thank you for sticking with me! It was kind of tough to write this as I'm going through some major health issues (but TMI) recently, but in a way, this story has kept me going, and you guys have inspired me to keep writing! I never realised how much I enjoyed writing until I wrote this story. I'm sorry for all the times that there were long breaks between chapters, but I'm glad you're still here! We made it through all the technical issues and shit and it's finished! This story started with our main girl, Rach, so I decided that it had to end with her too. I hope you enjoyed what I did with all of our characters and I am praying that it didn't get too cracky at the end... I now have a twitter account, so if you would ever like updates on my stories, follow me @ L_GleeStories, ya know, if you want too.**

**A/N 2: This chapter ended up being really long, but I didn't want to split it... It's probably twice the length of my usual chapters, but it has some lyrics in it too. Just thought I'd mention that. Also, I didn't want it to get too cracky, so I avoided mentioning some things in too much detail, as we all know description and detail can get bad, quick. If you have any questions about where our ND's are at, or what their jobs/relationships are, PM me, or leave it in a review. I know exactly who and what every character is doing, even though I may have left it out of the story. Sometimes you've just got to pick and choose what to put in and what to neglect.**

**The year is 2026, which places a majority of our characters around the 30 y/o mark.**

**For the last time, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review if you did, I love reading them and it _is_  your last chance, after all, and I'll see you... On the other side!-Lauren's Glee Stories x**

* * *

**_...2026..._ **

**Rachel's POV**

"I don't think that passenger seat, has ever looked this good to me," I sang, moving around the kitchen as I listened to one of my favourite songs, " _She_  tells me about her night, and I count the colours in  _her_  eyes,"

I flipped the remaining pancakes and left them to cook, sliding over to the fridge and getting out the orange juice, pouring it into the glasses that were sitting on the tray,

" _She'll_  never fall in love she swears as  _she_  runs her fingers through  _her_  hair," I sang quietly, checking the pancakes were cooked before sliding them onto the plate with the others,

I put some butter in a bowl and grabbed the maple syrup, putting them on the tray and picking it up,

"I'm laughing 'cause I hope  _she's_  wrong," I sang, walking up the stairs and down the hallways to the bedroom,

I hummed the next lyrics as I approached the bedroom door,

"Knock-knock," I said when I reached the bedroom,

"Come in," A voice called back, and I balanced the tray on one hand while I opened the door,

"Good morning," I greeted in a soft sing-song voice, walking forward and placing the tray on the bed, "How are my two favourite girls?" I asked in a playful voice,

"We're good," Quinn replied with a smile, "Aren't we Ellie?" She asked our daughter with a fond smile,

Elle nodded with her thumb firmly in her mouth,

"Are you gonna have some of our pancakes?" I asked the three-year-old,

Elle nodded again, this time with a huge grin on her face,

"Shouldn't you be having some kind of awful green smoothie?" Quinn asked me teasingly,

"I'm pregnant, give me a break," I replied, rolling my eyes and sitting on the bed next to Elle, handing the girl her cutlery

"How are you feeling this morning?" Quinn asked, a hint of concern in her voice,

I nodded, "Better," I answered, "I don't feel sick, I'm just  _really_  hungry," I explained, cutting another slice of the pancake stack, "I feel like Sophomore year Finn,"

Quinn smiles fondly, "That's a  _good_ thing," She replied, helping Elle with her next mouthful,

"Ooh, make sure you remember that we're having dinner at San and Britt's at 5," I reminded Quinn,

Quinn shook her head, "I still don't get when we all turned into people that eat dinner at 5," She grumbled,

"We had kids," I reminded, poking Ellie's stomach playfully,

"Only us and Sam and Kurt," Quinn pointed out,

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, but Santana and Brittany appreciate the fact that we need to be home to put our kids to bed," I explained, "Plus, I think San has been mentally preparing herself for the fact that they're having a baby,"

Elle yawned, "Elle sleepy,"

Quinn and I looked at each other, then at Elle in total adoration,

"Aww, later, Sweetie," I said, "Are you looking forward to seeing everybody today?"

"Auntie Tana," Elle replied, sticking her thumb in her mouth,

Quinn and I nodded, "And Auntie Brittany, Uncle Sam, Uncle Kurt, Auntie Tina, Uncle Artie and Uncle Puck," Quinn listed, looking quite bored by the end,

"The whole gang," I rephrased with a smile,

"Are they bringing Charlie?" Quinn asked curiously,

I frowned, "I'm not sure," I said, reaching for my phone and scrolling through my messages,

"Yep," I answered after a minute, "They weren't sure because he wasn't feeling well last week but he's better now," I explained,

"How do I not know that? I work with the guy, " Quinn said confusedly,

"That would probably be because you don't listen," I answered, my voice full of false cheer as I tickled my daughter, who giggled in delight,

"I do too!" Quinn replied indignantly,

"Charlie was only sick on Friday," I replied with a smile, letting her off the hook,

"That makes more sense," Quinn agreed,

I shook my head and smiled,

"Charlie sick?" Elle queried, worry shining in her little hazel eyes, looking identical to her mother,

"No, he's better now, you'll see him tonight," I answered, and Elle nodded, attempting to cut off more pancake using her fork, "So you're going to go to work?" I asked, directed at Quinn,

Quinn nodded, "Kevin really wanted me to come in today," Quinn told me, "I said I'd come in for the shoot, then leave with Kurt at Lunch. I figured since he's retiring next month, I may as well do my best until I take over," She shrugged,

"I can't believe you're going to be the Head of Photography," I muttered, shaking my head in disbelief and stuffing another forkful of pancake into my mouth,

When I looked up, Quinn was smiling at me,

"What?" I asked with my mouth full,

"Nothing," Quinn replied, "I was just thinking of how lucky I am,"

"Sap," I teased,

"Momma's a sap," Elle agreed, dropping a bit of pancake on her pyjamas,

Quinn narrowed her eyes at us playfully, "You know you love me,"

I hummed thoughtfully, tilting my head to the side, "Hmm, do we love her Ellie?"

Elle nodded, "Love momma," She agreed,

"I guess we'll keep you," I teased, "Well, as long as you don't get fired for being late," I pointed out, nodding to their alarm clock,

"Shit, it's 8:30 already!?" Quinn cursed, "I'm dead," She muttered, jumping out of bed and slipping on her clothes,

She kissed me quickly and gave Elle a hug, "Love you both, I've just got to get my keys and I'm ready to go," She explained, running out of the room,

"Mommy?" Elle piped up,

"Yes, Ellie?" I replied, turning to the little girl with a smile,

"What's shit?" She asked confusedly,

"Quinn!" I called out angrily, before hearing the front door slam shut,

"I swear if I wasn't married to her," I muttered under my breath, shaking my head in a kind of...  _fond exasperation_...

* * *

**Quinn's POV**

I walked up to Kurt's house and hesitated slightly before knocking on the door,

"Coming!" A muffled voice called from inside the house,

The door swung open to reveal Kurt, still in his (very fashionable) pyjamas, with a young boy to his right,

"Quinn? You're early," He commented in confusion,

I looked at my watch, just to check,

"Nope, you're late," I told him, "It's 8:50," I added, showing him my watch,

Kurt's face morphed into one of pure horror,

"Oh dear Gaga," He muttered, "I'm doomed,"

"You do have quite the flair for the dramatics," I muttered under my breath,

"Hi Auntie Q," Charlie greeted from beside Kurt,

"Hello Charlie," I greeted back with a smile, "Do you want to watch TV with me while your Papa gets ready?" I asked in a slightly teasing tone, directed at Kurt,

"Right, I need to get ready," He agreed in a slightly dazed manner, shaking himself, "Stay with your Auntie Q, Charlie," He instructed before rushing off down the hall,

Charlie looked up at me expectantly,

"Wanna watch TV?" I asked him with a smile,

"Yep," He agreed, leading the way to their living room,

Just as we reached the living room we bumped into a sleepy Sam in the hallway,

"Hey, Quinn, buddy," He greeted the pair of us,

Charlie tried to move forward but his father stopped him in his tracks,

"You have to get to school early today," He reminded, "Cereal, get dressed, then you can watch TV," He said pointedly,

"But-" Charlie tried to object,

Sam held up his hand, "No buts, come on, the quicker you get ready the quicker you can watch the TV," He said with a sense of finality,

Charlie groaned and walked in the direction of his bedroom,

"5-year-olds," Sam muttered with a slight smile, rubbing his face with his hand,

"You coming in with us today?" I asked curiously,

Sam shook his head, "Nahh, I've got a shoot downtown," He explained,

I nodded, "Sweet,"

"Darn right it's sweet," Kurt interjected, looking a hundred times more awake as he kissed his husband on the cheek, "It's for Calvin Klein," He whispered conspiratorially to me, winking at Sam,

"Come on," I said to Kurt, "Grab your breakfast and let's get out of here," I instructed, nodding towards the clock on the wall,

Kurt jumped slightly, "Right, of course, I just need my bag," He said decisively, peering around the corner curiously, "Would anyone happen to know where my bag would be..?" He asked hopefully,

Sam smiled wryly, "It's by the front door, Sweetie," He teased,

Kurt glared at him, "Thank you," He said curtly,

"Love you," Sam chirped,

Kurt's resolve broke and he smiled slightly, "Love you too, thank you," He replied, kissing Sam on the cheek, "I'll see you at Brittana's," He reminded, before walking past me to get his bag,

"Bye, Sam, we'll see you tonight," I said with a smile, "Hey, wait up!" I called out, quickly following after Kurt before he left without me.

* * *

By the time we arrived at work, we were  _definitely_  running late. Oops. But hey, we practically _ran_  the place. We had a right to be late. I think...

I looked at the building in front of me with a huge smile on my face, I would simply  _never_  get tired of working here. Put that on top of my big promotion, and Vogue was a dream come true. Plus, working there with one of my best friends had its perks.

"Lunch around the corner?" Kurt checked, digging through his bag to get his lanyard and smoothing down his suit,

I nodded, "1 o'clock?" I clarified, slipping off my sunglasses, smoothing down my pencil skirt and preparing myself for the chaos I was about to walk into,

"Sounds good," He agreed, "See you then," He farewelled, walking into the building first, disappearing through the revolving doors,

"I love my job," I decided, following suit, heels clicking, my 'show-face' firmly in place as I walked into the building.

* * *

**Rachel's POV**

After Elle and myself had finished breakfast, I jumped out of bed with my phone in my hand,

"Are we going to call Auntie Tina?" I asked Elle excitedly,

She nodded, making grabby hands at my phone,

I laughed, "How about I take the lead on this one?" I suggested, making her shake her head and then nod her head in agreement,

"Auntie Tina, Auntie Tina, Auntie Tina," I muttered, coasting through my contacts until I hit my friend's number,

I smiled at Elle, who was drinking her orange juice, as I waited for Tina to pick up,

"Hello, this is Tina," She greeted, sounding bored, or maybe it was tired...

"Tina..." I said slowly, a wide grin on my face,

I could hear her groan on the other end of the phone,

"Nope," She said instantly, "Not going to happen," She said firmly,

"You wouldn't hurt a pregnant lady's feelings would you..?" I fake pouted,

I could practically see her eye twitching through the phone,

"I'll catch a cab and meet you there," She sighed, but I knew she was playing it up, "But if we get murdered, I am totally blaming you," She said warningly, probably pointing her finger at her phone,

"I owe you," I thanked her in a sing-song voice before the line went dead,

I turned to Ellie with a big smile on my face,

"Who wants to go shopping?!" I asked her excitedly,

She put her juice down and clapped, "Elle, mommy, Auntie Tina; go shoppings!" She agreed, nodding her head wildly,

"Right, well, let mommy get changed, then we'll get you dressed and go out," I told her, letting her sit on the bed as I got ready.

* * *

I smiled at Tina as we approached the front door, pushing Ellie's pram in front of me,

"She's not gonna be happy," Tina warned,

"She'll be fine," I answered confidently, "We'll persuade her the same way we always do, remember?"

Tina winced, "You know, every time we do that she gets one step closer to murdering us in our sleep," She pointed out,

I looked at her exasperatedly, "She's a softie," I defended, knocking on the door,

"Shit, she's coming," She cursed as we heard footsteps approaching the door,

"Hell-" A voice greeted as the door swung open, "Oh, hey guys!" Brittany exclaimed, her hand resting firmly on her stomach, "Wasn't expecting you here," She said with a smile, "Hello, Ellie," She said enthusiastically to Elle, crouching down to look at her, and Elle waved, her thumb still in her mouth,

Tina sighed with relief, clearly glad to see Brittany instead of-

"Hey," I greeted, "We were wondering... If you two would like to go shopping with us..." I said with a grin,

"For baby stuff," Tina clarified, "But we can see that San isn't home so we will get out of your hair," She said hurriedly, turning to walk down the path before I grabbed her arm and turned her around,

Brittany smiled guiltily, "Actually, I have my baby ballet class in an hour, but San's free?"

Tina smiled tightly, "We can do it another day," She said, "No biggie," She shrugged, turning on her heel again,

"Britts?" Santana called curiously from inside,

"Shit," Tina muttered under her breath,

I elbowed her in the ribs,

"Tina and Rach wanted to take us shopping," Brittany explained as Santana approached us, "I can't go, obviously, but I told them you would," She shrugged, opening the door wider,

Santana smiled at them, "What for?" She asked curiously,

"Baby stuff!" I answered excitedly, practically jumping up and down,

"Go on, San, you go without me," Brittany encouraged, "I'll come out another time," She shrugged,

Santana nodded, "Sure, I'll get ready and meet you guys out in a minute," She told us, walking back into the house,

"We'll just wait outside," I told Britt, "I need to get my phone anyway" I shrugged,

Brittany nodded with a smile, "Okay, I'll see you tonight then?" She checked,

I nodded,

"Yeah, Artie and I are going to be a few minutes late, though," Tina apologised,

Britt waved her hand at her, "Don't worry, we said 5 so that the kids can eat early," She explained, "Our dinner should be at six," She nodded,

"Great," Tina said,

Britt nodded, looking to Ellie in her pram, "See you later, Sweetie, have fun with your mommy and Aunties," She said to her,

I turned the pram around, "Bye Britt, we'll see you later," I farewelled, walking down the path with Tina following behind us,

I smiled at Tina knowingly, "See, Tana wasn't mad,"

"Just you wait," She grumbled, taking Elle's pram and pushing it over the curb, stopping at the back of my car to let me lift her out and put her in her car seat.

* * *

A few minutes into the drive, the four of us were quiet. Apart from Elle occasionally babbling to herself, Santana tickling her toes every now and then,

"You two are so dead," Santana piped up from the backseat,

I rolled my eyes,

"Told you," Tina muttered under her breath, shifting in her seat, clearly feeling the glare that was set on her.

* * *

Once we got into the shop, Tina had offloaded Elle onto Santana, possibly as a barrier between her and us, after all, she wouldn't do/say anything with a three-year-old in front of us,

"Come on, Tana," I said to her, "Aren't you excited about all this stuff?" I asked her, picking up a white onesie that had had a deer on the front,

"Of course I am," She replied quickly,

I raised an eyebrow up at her as I put the onesie in the basket,

"You learnt too much from Quinn," She grumbled,

"I'll take that as both a compliment and a deflection," I answered with a smile, "Now, what's up?" I asked her, more seriously this time,

She sighed, and Tina smiled, taking the pram from her and leading Elle off to where some of the children's toys were,

"It just-" Santana started,

"It just what? Come on, you can talk to me," I encouraged,

"I love kids," She told me, and I nodded, "I mean, I love Charlie and Ellie, I love being their aunt," She explained quickly, "And I love Britts more than anything in this world,"

I nodded slowly, starting to understand what she was thinking,

"So, what's the problem?" I asked softly, encouraging her to be honest,

"I'm just scared," She blurted out, "I mean, what if something's wrong with the baby? What if they don't like me? What happens if I drop them? What if I'm a terrible parent?!" She exclaimed,

I held my hands up to try and calm her down,

"Calm down, everything will be fine," I assured,

"It's just, this all happened so quick! Our doctors all said that it could take months, years even, and after one round she's knocked up!" She whisper-shouted,

"Look, Santana. Everything will be fine," I said firmly, "I can't promise you that you won't drop your baby, or bang their head on a doorframe. I can't promise that they won't fall off of the monkey bars and hurt themselves. I can't promise that parenthood is going to be easy. All I, as one of your closet friends, can promise you, is that you are going to be an amazing mother," I told her, "You aren't going to be perfect. You're snarky, sarcastic, bitchy, hot-headed and more stubborn than anyone I know. Apart from myself, of course," I amended,

She chuckled slightly in agreement, her eyes shining with tears that she refused to let fall,

"But you are strong. You are kind, you are honest, you are determined, and you would do anything for your family. Those are the hallmarks of a great mom." I assured her,

Santana nodded and exhaled, "Okay," She said,

"Okay?" I checked,

She nodded again, laughing self-consciously as she wiped under her eyes, being careful to not completely ruin her eye-makeup,

"You know, Berry..." She trailed off,

I linked my arm through hers, "I know you love me," I answered, saving her the embarrassment of admitting it herself and resting my head on her shoulder, "I'm an awesome friend," I added with a cheesy grin,

"You're not half bad," She agreed, resting her head on mine briefly,

"Come on," I encouraged, "We've got some shopping to do!" I squealed, pulling her along the next aisle where we bumped into Tina and Elle,

"We good?" Tina asked, walking up to us,

"We're all good, Tina," Santana affirmed,

"Good, because I think we're being followed..." She told us, nodding behind her,

Santana rolled her eyes with a slight groan and I slipped on my sunglasses,

"Okay, we all look great," I assured them, "Come on, three famous actresses out shopping for baby stuff, we should have known  _someone_  would see us," I reasoned, "I'm actually a little bit surprised nobody has recognised us yet," I added, tilting my head thoughtfully,

"I don't think I'm ever going to like the paparazzi," Santana grumbled, slipping on her own sunglasses and pulling her jacket around her tightly,

I pulled the hood down over Ellie,

"I don't think they saw her," Tina reassured me,

"It's fine. I don't mind her being photographed, it's more the flash I'm worried about," I said, "I just don't want it to hurt her eyes, or scare her, I guess," I explained, "Okay, we'll finish shopping and get out of here," I decided, "It was more of a  _look_  than  _buy_  shopping trip anyway,"

"How much do you and Quinn already have?" Tina asked curiously, having pulled up her hood and added sunglasses,

"Well, we're going to reuse Ellie's cot, pram, high chair and change table, so it's really only clothes, toys and other little things," I listed, "And since we're keeping the gender a surprise, we're not going to know exactly what to buy until after the little one arrives," I explained, patting my stomach gently,

"Only a few months to go, now," Tina pointed out excitedly,

"I know, right?" I agreed in awe,

Santana picked up a little, white bunny and showed us,

"Okay, this is kind of adorable," She admitted,

I nodded towards the basket, and she placed it in carefully,

"Tina," I whispered, "Want to stir up the press?" I asked conspiratorially,

She grinned, "Always..." She nodded,

"Use our cash and pay for our stuff," I dared,

She chuckled, "My publicist is going to kill me," She said, nodding and taking the proffered money, going to pay and noting the people outside of the store taking photos,

I laughed, "I love my life," I decided, "I give it a week before the news of Tina and Art's baby is headlining,"

"Three days, fifty bucks," Santana bargained,

"Done," I agreed, and tucked Elle's blanket up at her chin as she dozed off.

We walked out of the store minutes later, five or six photographers around us trying to take photos, the three of us walking briskly, with myself and Ellie in between Tina and Santana, offering slight buffers between her and the press, occasionally smiling at them.

The paparazzi always scared me more when I had Elle with me, but  _so far,_  I hadn't had any dangerous encounters with them...

They were calling our names as they followed us along to our car, and we just smiled at them and waved slightly.

We reached the car and I grabbed Elle out of her pram while San and Tina put her pram in the boot,

I waved my hand at them to quieten down and I smiled at them,

"Hi, everyone," I greeted, "We're all doing very well, thank you, just out on a little pre-baby shopping trip," I explained with a dazzling smile, holding Elle so her face was hidden,

"And how far along are you Ms Berry-Fabray?" A reporter -Jane, I think her name was- asked me curiously,

"Four months tomorrow," I answered with a soft smile,

"Yep, we've just been shopping and we're heading for an early lunch now," Tina informed them from beside me, her and Santana taking over while I put Ellie in her car seat, an act I had quickly learned to do in rapid time.

* * *

Once we were in the car I couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief,

"Next time we go out with Elle I'm calling my security guard," Santana said decisively,

"Or mine," Tina added uneasily,

"Look, guys, I've never had a problem with them before," I defended,

"Neither have I, Rach," Santana points out, "But as Elle gets older you're going to need an extra pair of hands, just to make sure she's safe," Santana said gently from the backseat, her voice quiet so as to not wake Elle,

I nodded, "I'll call James next time, leave it to me," I agreed, "He'll be happy to help, anyway,"

"Think on the bright side," Tina chirped, "Between all of us, we practically have an army of security to help out,"

I laughed lightly, "My high school self would be thrilled,"

"If my high-school-self was aware of we were going to be famous as we are, I would have dropped my stutter sooner," Tina admitted,

"Oh, it's alright, T-t-Tina, it all worked out just f-f-fine," Santana assured her, smirking slightly,

Tina slid down in her seat, "I hate you," She grumbled petulantly,

I laughed and reached for the radio, after all, music always helped Elle sleep,

"No way," I laughed,

"What?" Santana asked from the back,

I turned the volume up on the radio and the hit 'Paparazzi' from the 2000's started playing,

" _I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me, Papa-paparazzi,_ " I sang softly, and the girls joined in,

" _Baby there's no other superstar, you know that I'll be, your papa-paparazzi_.".

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Quinn called out jokingly from the front of the house,

"Hey, babe," I called back, walking down the hallway to greet her, kissing her chastely, "How was lunch?" I asked her, taking her jacket from her and putting in the coat room,

"Good," She replied, "It was kind of supposed to be business but we didn't get around to much," She shrugged with a slight grin,

"Am I supposed to applaud you for not doing your work?" I asked, raising my eyebrow,

Quinn pretended to think, "Yes, yes you are," She decided,

"You're going to have to make me..." I teased, sliding down the hallway as quickly as I could,

"Raaacchh," Quinn groaned, "This house is way too big for this game," She complained,

I stopped and turned around, "You getting old, Fabray? I thought you'd at least last past thirty-five," I teased,

She growled slightly, "Stop teasing me," She grumbled petulantly,

"Make me," I dared with a wink, running down the hallway, still attempting to be fairly quiet so as not to wake Elle, who had just gone down for a nap,

Quinn ran after me and cornered me in the kitchen,

"So, Ms Berry-Fabray, is Ellie asleep?" She asked hopefully, getting closer and closer towards me,

I gulped in anticipation and nodded, "Yes," I affirmed,

"Lucky us," She smirked, coming right up to my face,

"God, Quinn," I groaned, "Please,"

"Please wh-" She started, before I interrupted her by pressing my lips against hers,

"Kiss me," I added, pulling back slightly,

"I'll do my best," Quinn replied breathlessly, moving forward to kiss me harder,

I moaned into the kiss as Quinn grabbed my waist and lifted me onto the counter,

"God, I want you so bad," I whispered, kissing down her neck,

At that moment, a loud crying sounds from the baby monitor on the surface, making me laugh into Quinn's shoulder,

"We need to get ready anyway," I admitted, carefully jumping down from the counter, "Raincheck?"

"Raincheck," She confirmed, kissing me lightly on the lips, "I'll go surprise Elle, you take longer to get ready anyway," She teased, running away before I could catch her,

"She has a point," I begrudgingly admitted after she had left, going upstairs to get ready myself.

* * *

We had ended up arriving at the LoPierce's twenty minutes late, and though I hated being late, it was something I had long since come to accept since having a daughter.

"Hey!" We both greeted as the door swung open to reveal San and Britt,

"Hey, guys! And hello, little lady, how are you?" Brittany greeted cheerfully,

Elle smiled up at her Aunt and nodded,

"Doing good," She replied, sticking her thumb back in her mouth,

"Come on, come in! You're late, if you hadn't realised," Santana pointed out, leading us through their house as Quinn handed Britt a bottle of wine,

"You'll understand in a few months," I replied with a smile,

"What do you mean?" Santana asked with a slightly horrified look on her face,

Quinn smirked, "You'll never be on time again," She restated,

"Princess?" I heard a voice call from the kitchen,

"Noah!" I squealed, running over and jumping to give him a hug, which he accepted with a chuckle, "You were supposed to be here last week!" I reminded him with a glare,

"Sorry, Rae, I couldn't miss that meeting," He replied apologetically, "To be fair, they would have kept me another week, but I told them I had to get back to New York to see my family,"

"Yeah, well, don't be gone so long next time, your family misses you," I pouted,

"Uncle Puck!" Ellie squealed as she saw him, and I moved back as Noah opened his arms for her,

"Smelly Ellie!" He exclaimed back, hugging her and setting her on his hip,

She giggled at the nickname,

"Puckerman," Quinn greeted with a small smile, probably trying to play it cool,

"Q," He nodded, holding his other arm out for her,

She grinned and walked over to him, putting one arm around his waist and the other around our daughter,

"Missed you," She mumbled,

"I know, I'm sorry, I told my manager that my next tour has to have bigger breaks in between so I can come back here more often," He told her,

"Good," She replied, moving back towards me,

He put Elle down on the ground and she ran over to say hello to Charlie, who had been playing with some of the toys he kept at San and Britt's house, smiling at the scene,

"Yo, Tartie in the house!" Artie called out jokingly as Tina pushed him into the room,

The room cheered back and we all greeted them in turn,

"Long time, no see," Quinn pointed out when she saw him,

"It's only been a month, Q," He said as he rolled his eyes at her fondly,

"Yeah, well, that's three weeks too long," she replied stubbornly, leaning down to hug him and moving to greet Tina, whom she pulled through to the lounge area,

"Hello, Artie," I smiled after I quickly greeted Tina, whom I'd already seen, leaning down to hug him,

"You wouldn't believe what I heard down the grapevine when I was in L.A," He whispered in my ear before I pulled back,

"Really? And what was that?" I replied innocently, crossing my fingers,

"You do know that I'm friends with Mercedes' producer, right? I directed some of her music videos," He shrugged,

"I wanted it to be a surprise," I defended,

"Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone else," He assured, "When were you planning on telling us, anyway?" He asked curiously, rolling next to me as I walked down the hallway,

"Tonight," I answered nervously,

"It'll be fine," He reassured me, "They'll all be thrilled,"

"Really? I don't want anybody to think I'm overstepping," I whispered nervously,

"They won't," He assured,

"Rachel!" Kurt called out, walking towards us, "I'm going start by apologising for missing our spa night," He started,

I waved my hand at him, "Don't worry about it, though, we are definitely rescheduling," I brushed it off, "Where's Sam at?" I asked him curiously,

"Oh, he's helping Britt in the kitchen," He explained,

I nodded, "Guess I'll go say a quick hello then maybe see if I can help with our dinner," I decided, walking towards the kitchen,

"Rachel!" He exclaimed when he saw me, "I'd hug you, but," He said, holding his hands up to demonstrate,

I laughed, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek,

"Anything I can do to help in here?" I asked Britt, washing my hands at their sink,

"If you could peel the potatoes, I definitely wouldn't say no," She replied,

I grabbed the potatoes and the peeler and set myself up in the corner,

"How're you feeling today Britt?" I asked her, wincing as I barely missed peeling my finger,

"Good, that morning sickness is officially gone. That stuck around way too long," She said, "I'm starting to think I should pray to Lord Tubbington more often," She admitted, a slight twinkle in her eyes,

Sam and I laughed lightly, the thing about Britt was that she had matured immensely since High School, and now when she came up with those lines, it was  _a lot_  harder to tell if she was being serious or joking or not. That was the fun part though, so few people questioned it,

"How about you?" She replied, washing her hands before checking on the food in the oven,

"I don't think I'm out of the woods yet, but I don't want to jinx it," I said honestly,

"Our surrogate had morning sickness her entire pregnancy with Charlie," Sam pointed out unhelpfully,

I pointed my peeler at him, "Keep talking," I dared,

He laughed, "Not the peeler!" He said in mock-horror,

"That threat probably would have worked better with a knife," Brittany whispered,

I glared at him, "If you just jinxed me, I won't make that cake for your birthday," I threatened,

"Not the cake," He paled,

I hummed, "Yeah, the cake,"

"I'll be good," He swore, crossing his heart,

After an hour of prepping the rest of the food, the oven timer chimed and Brittany clapped her hands,

"Dinner's ready!" She announced, walking over to the intercom and pressing the button, "Dinner in five, everybody! Wash up and get to the dining room," She instructed, her voice echoing slightly over the speakers.

* * *

Dinner was a very loud, jovial affair, and everyone at the table stuffed themselves with the  _amazing_  food.

After clearing up, Quinn and I put Ellie to bed in the travel cot and we all moved to one of the other lounge-rooms with wine and dessert, only for those not driving or pregnant, of course. I was stuck with sparkling water.

Halfway through our cheesecake I stood up and cleared my throat, wiping my hands on my dress nervously,

"Hello, everybody," I greeted as if I hadn't been speaking with them  _all_  evening,

"Hello, Rachel!" They all chorused back mockingly,

I glared at them and cleared my throat again, "I've got some news," I announced,

"You're pregnant?!" Kurt called out in faux-shock, "However didn't we notice!" He added, making the room erupt in laughter,

"This is actually more serious than that," I said over the laughter, making them quieten down quickly,

"Shit, you're not dying are you, princess?" Noah asked with a nervous laugh,

"No!" I replied back exasperatedly, "Can I have no interruptions for a minute?" I said loudly,

A few people exchanged some worried glances, "Everything okay, Rach..?" Sam asked softly,

I rolled my eyes, at this rate, I'd never end up telling them,

"Yes, just listen," I assured,

They all looked at me expectantly,

"Well, as you all know, I've been discussing the possibility of a solo album with my publicist, who has been asking around and interviewing people for me," I started,

They all nodded at me confusedly,

"Well, I got an album deal!" I announced with a nervous smile, and the room erupted into cheering, "With a big recording company that, though they're based in L.A, has some offices here in New York!"

Everybody jumped up and moved to hug me, which I accepted gratefully,

"However!" I added loudly, causing the room to go quiet again,

Artie smiled at me encouragingly as everyone else looked confused,

"It's not a solo album, per say," I said slowly,

Quinn looked at me confusedly, "What do you mean, babe?" She asked,

"You guys all know how much you mean to me, and how I wouldn't be here today without you guys, and glee club," I explained, and they all nodded confusedly,

"Of course we know that, Rach," Tina assured,

"Well, I talked to my new producer," I said slowly, making everybody lean forward on their seats,

"Spit it out," Artie advised,

"I want to do an album with you guys!" I blurted out,

Silence,

"Well?" I said nervously,

"You want to what?" Santana interjected confusedly,

"I've wanted to do this for a long time, but I didn't know how," I explained, "And then I was too busy with television, Broadway, and having the task of  _pretending_  to be  _that one's_ best friend on the big screen," I said jokingly, nodding toward Santana, "That I never had the chance, and then I had Elle, and kind of forgot about it," I shrugged,

"So, you want to what?" Kurt asked, repeating Santana's question and tilting his head like a puppy,

"I mentioned it to Mercedes when we caught up last fall, and she brought it up with her producer," I said slowly, "I want to do an album entitled 'New Directions'," I announced, "I want everyone in it," I explained, "Mercedes is already on board, and she said she could talk to Mike, as he's still in L.A, and I was thinking that you, Kurt, could talk to Finn, as obviously you see him regularly,"

"Who exactly is 'everyone'...?" Santana asked suspiciously,

"Well, I want the focus to be on everyone here, but I want all our members to be in it," I said decisively,

There was a stunned silence for several moments,

"Are we really doing this...?" Tina asked with a nervous laugh, looking to our friends for an answer,

I just stood there nervously,

"Well, I'm obviously in," Quinn said firmly, coming to my side, "I love Rachel, and I love all of you guys, it makes so much sense,"

"So?" I asked hopefully,

"Hells yeah," Santana agreed, standing up and walking over to us, "The crowd will love us," She reasoned, "Three famous actresses, two heads of Vogue, two famous singers, a producer, a model, a choreographer, a famous dance teacher, and one of the top young CEO's in Ohio," She listed, "We'll be unstoppable,"

"I'm down," Artie affirmed, rolling to us,

Sam, Kurt, Britt, Tina and Puck all shrugged and stood up,

"We're all in," Sam decided,

"We're really gonna do this?" I squealed,

Kurt nodded, "I think this calls for a song," He announced, and we all cheered,

I smiled at my friends as I turned on the music, giving the beat a few moments before starting the lyrics.

**Me:**  
I had a dream so big and loud  
I jumped so high I touched the clouds  
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh

Quinn was the first to catch on and nodded to signal that she would take the next lines,

**Quinn:**  
I stretched my hands out to the sky  
We danced with monsters through the night  
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh

Sam smiled at Kurt cheekily and took over,

**Sam:**  
I'm never gonna look back  
Woah, never gonna give it up  
No, please don't wake me now

As soon as everyone realised the lyrics, they joined in for the chorus,

**Brittany, Santana, Noah and Kurt (Sam, Quinn, Myself, Artie and Tina):**  
This is gonna be the best day of my life  
(My li-i-i-i-i-ife)  
This is gonna be the best day of my life  
(My li-i-i-i-i-ife)

Noah jumped onto the couch,

**Noah:**  
I howled at the moon with friends  
And then the sun came crashing in  
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh

Artie rolled up to him to take over,

**Artie:**  
But all the possibilities  
No limits just epiphanies  
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh

**Tina:**  
I'm never gonna look back  
Woah, never gonna give it up  
No, just don't wake me now

**Brittany, Santana, Noah and Kurt (Sam, Quinn, Myself, Artie and Tina):**  
This is gonna be the best day of my life  
(My li-i-i-i-i-ife)  
This is gonna be the best day of my life  
(My li-i-i-i-i-ife)

**Santana and Brittany:**  
I hear it calling outside my window  
I feel it in my soul (soul)  
The stars were burning so bright  
The sun was out 'til midnight  
I say we lose control (control)

**Brittany, Santana, Noah and Kurt (Sam, Quinn, Myself, Artie and Tina):**  
This is gonna be the best day of my life  
(My li-i-i-i-i-ife)  
This is gonna be the best day of my life  
(My li-i-i-i-i-ife)  
This is gonna be, this is gonna be, this is gonna be  
The best day of my life

**Noah:**  
Everything is looking up, everybody up now  
This is gonna be the best day of my life

**Me:  
** My li-i-i-i-i-ife

"Group hug!" Tina declared,

Moments later, Charlie came into the room,

"You sang without me?" He asked with a pout, and we all laughed, dispersing to get more drinks or chat amongst ourselves.

* * *

Quinn approached me an hour later with a drink in her hand,

"I am  _so_  hurt that you didn't tell me," She joked, holding her hand up to her heart,

"Was it a good surprise?" I asked nervously, fidgeting with my hands,

"The best," She assured me with a smile,

"Good," I replied, "Cause that was your birthday present," I deadpanned,

"Haha, meanie," She pouted,

I poked my tongue out at her,

"I'm so proud of you, Rach," She told me softly,

I raised an eyebrow at her,

"No, seriously, I couldn't love you more right now," She told me firmly, "I love you, Mrs Berry-Fabray," She said softly,

"I love you, too, Mrs Berry-Fabray," I whispered back, kissing her softly, "So, so much,"

"Q, stop macking on your wife and get your ass over here," Santana called from the next room,

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Duty calls," She said seriously, "See you in a minute," She added with a smile, walking into the next room,

Tina smiled at me from across the room and walked over to stand next to me,

"You must really love her," Tina commented fondly,

"Love?!" I replied in a faux-incredulous tone, "Nahh." I denied with a smile.

_And if you ask me if I love her, I'd Lie_

* * *

**A/N: Okay! We're done! Was it good? Ahhhh! I can't believe it's over! But I'm still writing guys! I have so many plans for more Faberry stories, on top of Pezberry, Klaine and maybe even Kurtbastian? So, if you like my writing, please follow me so you can have updates on what I'm writing! I also now have a twitter account that you can follow for updates, 'L_Gleestories'. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review if you did (it's the last chance!:() and I will see you on some other stories!**

**Also, if anyone would want to do some fanart for this fic, I would love to see it and drop your name in any sequels/my profile! Seriously, I bet there are some talented people reading this! If you do come up with something, PM me your pen name or whatever (or the usual, leave it in a review) and I'll check it out and get people to check you out!**

**For now, this story is finished, but there is always the possibility for little one-shots.**

**In the words of some very wise dolphins; So long, and thanks for all the fish ;)**

**-Lauren's Glee Stories xx**

**Author's Note:**

> Did you enjoy it??? Comment if you did...


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